Dangerous Bonds
by AppleQB
Summary: Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there’s something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough t
1. Prologue

Title- Dangerous Bonds (prologue?)  
Warning- AU, nothing really strong for this part really, shounen-ai/yaoi, language, and violence in future parts  
Parings- None for this part, will be 1+2+1, 3+4+3 at very least… (other minor pairings may apply later)  
Rating- R  
Summary- Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there's something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough time to save themselves? Crossover with the Dark Visions book series by L.J.Smith  
Disclaimer- I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or the Dark Visions book series. The following story is being written without profit and for enjoyment of a poor student. Please don't sue me. insert pleasant, innocent smile here

Notes/thinking and telepathy/ it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part

Bear with me. There's a lot of information in the prologue. I'm just trying to set up the story. This Fic was Titled and partly Betad read by my good friend PM (THANKIES ) By Midgewood58 and Ilyena Sylph (who is soo completely awesome!) Although, any and all spelling and grammar mistakes are still completely my own.

Additionally, it seems that doesn't show certain characters which effects the way I was notating the thinking/telepathy. I'm trying to go through and put them in italics, but I might miss a few. I don't think it will effect the story that much.

Prologue

_/Fifth period is the worst part of the day./_ Duo thought.

He was sitting in the dead center of classroom and could not have been more out of place. As if being totally dressed in black among blue jeans and bright tee shirts wasn't bad enough, his impossibly long hair drew even more attention. His eyes were the crowning piece however; they were a weird blue color with flecks of purple that seems to swirl in hypnotizing patterns.

His appearance did not help his social status. People were afraid of him, very afraid. Living in such a small town meant rumors tended to get out of hand and spread quickly. In fact, he was fairly certain even his teachers were arranging the seating so that everyone would have an equal opportunity to ridicule him. _/Well, every town's got to have an outcast, might as well be me/_ he thought, sardonically. At this point he was well past bitterness.

Duo tried to focus on the teacher droning on in his best sleep inducing monotone voice at the front of the class, but failed miserably. His attention dragged to the pencil and blank sheet of paper on his desk, he was supposed to be taking notes but he couldn't pay attention to more than two words at a time. What did get his attention, however, was the conversation to his left. Two of the most popular girls in school were planning their annual blowout 'Back to School' party; Duo was trying not to listen, he would never get invited. It's not cool to invite the local neighborhood demon to your party.

Well, demon or whatever they were calling him this week. He had pretty much heard them all, so much so that he was starting to take them as compliments. His favorite was the time word of him had gotten around to the Japanese foreign exchange student. The student had jumped up in the middle of class, pointed at Duo and screamed 'Shinigami' before running out of class. He had to ask around for a week before finally figuring out that it meant 'God of Death'. It was kind of catchy, but not deserved in the least.

His musings were interrupted when he felt his hand start to itch. Not the type of itch you can scratch but an internal kind, the kind that came with his visions. He had learned a long time ago not to fight them when they came, he just picked up the pencil and let his hand go on as if it had a mind of its own. Duo watched in an off-handed manner as the image he was drawing slowly took shape. When he finished he pulled his hand away and looked at what he had done. It was a picture of eyes; they were big, round doe eyes covered by a spider-web.

He frowned. Every time he drew something it was always so seemingly random. It never made since until after a significant event took place, something that was usually tragically avoidable. He used to show people his drawings to see if anyone could help him understand but after a it became apparent that no one could help. Then these horrible accidents and tragedies would happen and all the people he had shown would remember his drawings and see the connection immediately. People saw he was predicting these things, and then the rumors started that he was actually the one causing them. But only stupid people had accused him of that to his face, most people were just content talk about him behind his back. Stay away from him or he'll kill you, they would whisper. Stay away or you'll end up like his parents.

Duo didn't pay attention to that. He had to ignore it or he'd go crazy. He'd stop showing people his pictures but he hadn't stop trying to figure out what they meant. _/If I could figure it out, if I could understand, I could help somebody. I could save them. It would make it worth it./_

But he didn't have time to wonder about the most recent picture because an aide had just walked into the classroom and ask the teacher for his presence. "Duo Maxwell, get your things and go down to the office."

"With pleasure," He said gathering his stuff. He notice how official the summons was, normally a call on the intercom was made but they actually sent someone down to get him. /Something big must be going on. I wonder if it has anything to do with this, he thought, looking at the picture still on his desk. It still didn't make any sense, what would eyes in a spider web have to do with the office? He carefully folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket.

Apparently, a lot of people must have noticed him handling the drawing. He could hear people in the class whispering around him, things like 'What's he done this time,' and 'He's in for it now.' He calmly walked to the door but before exiting the room he turned and fixed the class with a stare. Normally his eyes were interesting but when he gave people looks like that his eyes made him look dangerous. Growing up in such a harsh environment had taught him to perfect the way he used his eyes, now being a perfect example. The class immediately shut up and he left the room smirking and feeling a great air of satisfaction.


	2. Chapter 1

Title- Dangerous Bonds (1?)  
Warning- AU, Past Angst and some bitterness, unnecessarily long past history telling (its more character building, sorry) and shounen-ai /yaoi, language, and violence in future parts.  
Parings- None for this part, will be 1+2+1, 3+4+3 at very least… (other minor pairings may apply later)  
Rating- R  
Summary- Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there's something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough time to save themselves? Crossover with the Dark Visions book series by L.J.Smith  
Disclaimer- I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or the Dark Visions book series. The following story is being written without profit and for enjoyment of a poor student. Please don't sue me. insert pleasant, innocent smile here

Notes: ummm /thinking or telepathy/ it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part , This Fic was Titled and partly Betad read by my good friend PM (THANKIES ) By Midgewood58 and Ilyena Sylph (who is soo completely awesome!) Although, any and all spelling and grammar mistakes are still completely my own

Additionally, it seems that doesn't show certain characters which effects the way I was notating the thinking/telepathy. I'm trying to go through and put them in italics, but I might miss a few. I don't think it will effect the story that much.

Chapter 1

_/It's not everyday I get called out of class and sent to the Main Office. It's more like every other day. It's not enough that I get to be the town's black sheep, I get the prestigious title of Trouble Maker too./_

Duo blew his hair out of his eyes in a huff as he followed the aide through the cheerfully clinical hallways of the school. _/I'm not a trouble maker/_ Duo thought heatedly, _/trouble just seems to follow me around./_

He still thanked Howard everyday for teaching him to fight; it came in handy all too often. His weird whatever-they-were left him open to verbal and physical attack every time he left his house. _/People fear what they don't understand and hate what they fear/_ he reminded himself jadedly. _/Add to that my hair and eyes and its like a beacon to every bully and wanna-be badass in the area. They think they can push me around just because of the way I look. Well, I'm not weak and I'll prove it anytime it needs proving./ _Still, even after coming out on top of more than his share of fights, scraps and tight spots the bullies didn't take the hint. He had earned a reputation that, oddly enough, made his circumstance worse. Sometimes it still shocked him that they continued to try and "get him."

He sighed as he tried to figure out what he had done this time. He couldn't think of anything recent enough for all the formality. He was getting apprehensive when he and the aide finally reached the Main Office. Duo entered and stood in front of the head desk waiting for the secretary to tell his what to do. After a while he started to fidget minutely and shifted the weight of the book bag on his shoulder. A small eternity later, the secretary finally looked up at him and waved him off in the direction of the Principal's Office.

/Hmm. Looks like I'm moving up in the world, Duo thought, standing in front of the door. He could hear two voices in a conversation he couldn't make out. One was the all too recognizable voice of the Principal and the other was a voice he didn't know. He suddenly got an odd feeling, one that he couldn't quite place, it made him hesitate before he managed to shake it off and knock politely on the door.

"Come in, Mr. Maxwell," answered the Principal.

Duo opened the door and took a quick inventory. The Principal, a short elderly woman with beady brown eyes and flaming red hair, was standing off to the left watching him like a hawk as though she expected him to grow horns or sprout leathery wings. The second person was sitting behind the principal's desk looking very relaxed as if she wasn't the only thing out of place. She was considerably younger than the principal and looked friendly enough, something that made him weary. She had long brown hair and eyes that complemented the pleasant smile on her face. There was something familiar about her but Duo couldn't figure it out. He closed the door behind him and waited for one of them to speak.

"Good afternoon Duo, it's nice to see you again. My name is Une, do you remember me?" she asked without losing the smile.

_/'See you again?'/_ Duo thought. Then he figured it out. She had come to his school about, six months before with some sort of test. That's how the public school system works - she gave a generous donation to the school and they let her use the student body as guinea pigs for her new program. Typical. _/Now what was that test for again…/_

"Oh. You gave that vision test," He answered after a moment.

"That's right," she nodded. "Do you remember anything about the test?"

"Um, you took a group of students and stuck us in a dark room with God-awful elevator music and showed us letters on a slide projector that kept getting smaller… So you came back to tell me I have great eye sight."

"Duo Maxwell," the Principal snapped, "show some respect!"

He toyed with the idea of turning and saluting the old wench with a few choice words and one choice finger but Une recaptured his attention.

"You're right, you have magnificent sight, but I wasn't testing your eyes."

"What do you mean?" He asked skeptically.

"For the first part of the test it was just as you said, however," she paused. He could see she was getting excited about what she was about to reveal. She was looking forward to his reaction, that alone was making him worried. "However," she repeated, "the letters continued to get smaller until they were nothing more than dots."

"Wait a minute. That's not true, I saw them. I kept writing till the end, I remember that!"

"I know Duo, that's why I'm here. You were the only one to finish and you got them all right."

"… You're full of it," He winced slightly after the words left his mouth. He could feel the waves of displeasure rolling off the old woman behind him. _/Oh well, I'm in it now, might as well finish pissing her off./_ He ran fingers through his bangs and continued, "You just said there were no letters. How—"

She put a hand up to stop him, "There was a volunteer behind the screen concentrating on cue cards with letters on them, the letters you were seeing."

Duo stood completely still trying to absorb what she was telling him. "But…"

She smiled gently, "Sit down Duo." He did so with out even realizing it, too caught up in the thoughts running though his head. "What you did is called remote viewing. Picking up images from other people or things… not unlike your visions."

That snapped him out of his thought pattern, "What do you know about my visions?" Duo asked suddenly on the defensive.

"It started to develop when you were five years old—" She continued on but he really didn't hear her after that. The year he was five, that was the year his life literally fell apart.

His mother and his father had known each other forever; that's the way things are in a small town. They grew up together along with his mother's best friend. His parents had decided to stay while his mother's friend went off to college. It hadn't lasted long, her friend returned without a degree but with a fiancé instead. His parents and their friends had gotten married in a beautiful double ceremony; it was lovely from what he had heard. The two couples did everything together including buying neighboring houses. When the girls had even gotten pregnant at the same time it had been such a happy time for everyone. They named the children after each other: Solo and Duo. He grew up with Solo just as his parents had grown up together; he was like a big brother.

However, happily ever after just didn't last. Solo caught a bad cold, pneumonia, it was sudden and the doctors couldn't do anything about it so he died. It seemed like everyone cried forever, so much sadness. Even at five Duo had known that's not what his 'brother' would have wanted but when he told them they just thought he didn't understand. That's why his parents left him with another close friend of theirs, Howard, when they went to the funeral, the funeral they never came back from.

The police say that the roads were slick and the car spun out into a ditch, but that's not what happened at all. It was a head-on, he knew because he saw it as it happened. It scared him then and still did even to this day if he thought about it. Howard had come to put Duo to sleep after getting tired of waiting for his parents to return, he expected to find the boy playing or drawing a picture for his parents, but he found something completely different.

Duo had pulled two lamps together and was staring at them with tears running down his cheeks. The last thing his parents saw were the headlights of the on coming truck, the two lamps were the only thing around that blocked out the headlights of the truck only he could see. He tried to tell people but they just wouldn't believe the devastated child.

People had good reason not to trust his judgment besides the fact that he was a child. He had started to talk about things he shouldn't know. Things that happened across town, things that hadn't happen yet; it only served to distance him from people when he needed their support most. Howard was the only one who never abandoned him.

Duo was pulled out of his miserable stroll down memory lane when Une touched his shoulder. "Duo," she said softly, looking at him with concern.

The boy swallowed hard and forced himself back to the present "Yeah. Ok, so you know my whole sob story. I still don't see what any of this has to do with you," he said coolly trying desperately to regain his composure.

"He also has an attitude problem. He's constantly acting combative or standoffish," the Principal sounded completely unmoved by Duo's life story. She had heard the whole thing many times before and it had no effect on her. The older woman genuinely did not like the young man sitting in her office; he had caused more trouble than she felt he was worth and if she were lucky this Une woman would take him off her hands. Still, she felt it was necessary to warn the woman of what she would be in for. "He's unruly and stubborn and he does not cooperate with others—"

Une drew her attention away from Duo for the first time since he had stepped in the room. She looked at the principal and smiled politely again, "Would you please excuse us."

The principal heard a hint of steel in the tone that made her turn pale. She quickly excused herself and left her own office as silently as she could, shutting the door behind her.

Duo was so completely glad to see her go he almost sighed in relief. He had really wanted to show her just how combative his bad attitude could be. He turned to Une to thank he but she beat him to the punch.

"You do not have an attitude problem, it's just that no one here understands you. You have a very rare gift. Do you know how rare?" She could see the confusion in his eyes so she continued, "We searched the whole world and only found four other boys with your level of talent."

"Four…"

"I'm offering you an opportunity to get out of this town and move to a new place where you will not be looked down upon. A chance to develop this gift to—"

"You keep calling this a gift but it's more like a curse… Never mind. Look, Lady…"

"Please, call me Une," she said, her pleasant smile was unwavering.

"Right, sure thing. Like I was saying, whatever it is you're selling, I'm not buying. No one does anything completely for another's benefit. What are you getting out of this, and why should I even care?

"I work for The Treize Institute. Mr. Treize, the owner, is a great and noble man. He has been studying talents like yours for a long time. He has devoted his entire life to the task of proving the existence of ESP to the scientific community. We are doing this study for the purpose of making his life long work come full circle. We are inviting the five of you to our Lab housing in California for a year-long study. You will finish out your school year in the finest school in the area and we will be doing daily test to—"

"I'm not going to be some lab rat!"

"You misunderstand me," she looked vaguely horrified that he would suggest such a thing. "Most of the test will resemble things like the "vision" test you took, nothing too out of the ordinary. To finish, at the end of the year, for your participation, you will receive a generous scholarship to attend the school of your choice."

"Just how generous are we talking?" Duo asked trying to find the catch in the situation she was proposing.

Une slide a slip of paper across the table for Duo to inspect. When he saw it his violet eyes widened with delight and surprise, "This is for all five of us split?"

"No," Une shook her head; "this is for you, alone."

Duo nearly choked, "ARE YOU SERIOUS!"

"Completely. This is a important task and we would like you to be a part of it, what do you think?"

"I… I…can't. I can't leave Howard. He needs my help around the shop and yard and I…" Duo wanted to go but he felt so torn/He's taken care of me for almost as long as I can remember. Adopted me for nothing and taught me everything I know. He's the reason I didn't end up living on the street or dead, I can't just leave, I owe him so much more than that.

"Mr. Howard wants what's best for you, he always has. He wouldn't want you to pass up this chance. You should go home and talk this over, I've already spoken with him and he is in favor of this. You have been excused from your classes for the rest of the day." She stood and gave him a hand up, "Come on, I'll take you home, we can finish this discussion there."

They left the school building and stepped into the fresh air. It was lunchtime so many of the students were out and about, some eating in the courtyard and other were in a rush to leave and go out for food. Most of the student body knew at least something about Duo and those that saw him took notice. Duo usually ate lunch in the back of the school with the other "weird" kids that didn't mind his presence nearly as much as the "normal" ones did. Seeing him out front in the daylight surprised some of them and the unfamiliar woman walking side him only increased their interest.

Une offered to drive when she noticed all the undue attention they were getting. Duo declined, he wanted to walk so he could sort out all his thoughts. They were halfway down the block when the sound of screeching tires and crunching metal pervaded the entire area.

When Duo turned and saw the mangled car and minivan, he was off before he knew it. Running towards the spot with Une trying to keep up. There was a girl crying and screaming hysterically near by, he forced her to look at him and shook her just enough to get her to stop screaming.

"What happened!"

The girl was so out of it she didn't even realize who she was talking to. "I saw it! I saw it! He… He was pulling out of the lot, he stopped… then he pulled out and… Oh God this van came out of no where and… Oh God!"

She started to get incoherent again and he let her go. He tried to get closer to the wreck but he saw something that made him stop dead in his place. Une finally caught up to him, slightly winded she asked, "What is it?" When she got no reply she turned to see what he was looking at.

From the force of the accident a little girl in side of the minivan had been thrown against the windshield. The glass had cracked around her head forming little cracks across her face, like a spider web over her still wide-open doe eyes.

Duo's hand slid into his pocket to grip the folded sheet of paper in his fist. "You said you can help me develop this gift," he said spiting the last word out with distain. "Can you teach me to control it?"

"I can't promise you anything, but that's what we hope to do. That's what we will be working toward."

"Then I'll do it. I'll go," he spoke quietly, almost inaudibly above the approaching sirens. He turned away and walked off dropping the now crumpled sheet of paper behind him.

Une picked it up and unfolded it to look at the picture. She carefully refolded the paper and closed her eyes, "Oh, Duo."


	3. Chapter 2

Title- Dangerous Bonds (2-?)  
Warning- AU, and shounen-ai in future parts.  
Parings- None for this part. Will be 1+2, 3+4  
Rating- Oh about a PG for now might get up to PG-13 or R later  
Summary- Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there's something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough time to save themselves? This is a crossover with the Dark Visions trilogy by L.J. Smith.

Disclaimer- I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or the Dark Visions book series. The following story is being written without profit, no malice is intended. insert pleasant, innocent smile here

Notes: ummm _/thinking or telepathy/_ it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part. Reminder: FF.n phunks with my notation of the telepathy I went through and checked by I might have missed one (don 't think so in this chapter, there's not too much of it) just keep that in mind sorry.  
This Fic was Beta-ed by Ilyena sylph and by Midgewood58. Also Titled and Beta-ed by my good friend PM (THANKIES ) Although any and all spelling and grammar mistakes are still completely my own.

Part 2 

_/So far, so good./_

Duo sat in the terminal waiting for Une to come and take him to his new home. He had only been sitting around for a couple of minutes and he was already getting restless. The crowd was thinning as people left to go wherever. After a while, there were only three or so people left and Duo's restlessness had turned into a sort of anxiousness. He had an itch; not the kind that was associated with his visions, the kind that meant someone was watching him. He stretched, and casually look around him a second before settling back in his seat. He hadn't noticed anything too out of the ordinary, except for a nondescript cloaked person. He almost laughed, that was a bit too cliché, even for him. He resisted the urge to look back again.

Soon, the other people had disappeared leaving Duo alone with his itch and the cloaked person. He couldn't take it anymore and turned in his seat, fully intending to ask the strange person what his problem was, but as he turned the words died on his tongue.

The man had thrown off his hood and was standing a yard away. His silvery gray hair was peculiarly shaped like a mushroom, which framed his abnormally long nose. The gleam of madness in his eyes was enough to convince Duo to run, but something was wrong. He was caught. Frozen, as if his mind had been wiped. The strange man smirked and started to advance but Duo couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. He was going to suffocate and the man would have him.

A hand touched his shoulder from behind. A startled gasp erupted from his chest as he turned to look at Une. It felt like he had just jumped out of his skin.

She was smiling. "Sorry I'm late, traffic was twice as bad as normal today."

He whipped around to look the few feet behind him, where the cloaked man had been standing. "Did you see—" the words died on his lips. There was no trace of the man in any direction. Duo turned back to Une looking like he had seen a ghost.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked, noting his appearance.

"Um… No," he stood slowly. "Let's go."

They headed to the baggage claim while Une continued to talk about the state of traffic outside and late buses or something or other. Duo wasn't listening. He was thinking about the strange man. _/What did he want from me and how did he just disappear? Or did I just imagine the whole_ _thing/_ He dismissed that thought with a slight shake of his head, _/No he was real, and he wanted something, but what? Or was he really there at all? Could it have been vision or…/_

Une shook his arm slightly when they reached the baggage claim, dragging him out of his thoughts. He sorted through some suitcases until he found his own. As he started to pick it up, his hand met something wet. He pulled it back to see it was covered in red…

"What the…?" He kicked over his suitcase to see what had happened and revealed 'Danger' hastily scrawled over his belongings, menacingly dripping red.

Two hours later, they were finally able to leave the airport. Security was everywhere, trying to question random people and assess a threat that Duo guessed was long gone. They tried to confiscate his luggage for further investigation but Une managed to talk them down to only keeping the actual suitcase; he had no idea how she had managed to do it. So, all of his possessions were stuffed in the large airport courtesy bag in the back of Une's Escalade.

After a fairly short ride, or rather it seemed short because he spent it sulking, Une pulled in a driveway and parked. Duo looked up at the little gray house, complete with porch swing and white picket fence. He looked stunned.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"No, it's just so… homey."

She smiled again as she was prone to do. "You didn't think you would be living in a laboratory for the next 12 months, did you?"

"Well, I hadn't thought about it but it is called an Institute," Duo said as he was getting out of the SUV and pulling his bag out of the back seat.

"It's just a house, however the lab where we will be doing our daily testing is in the basement. But we'll be talking about that later. For now, you should go in and meet the others. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei should be upstairs. Go on and get acquainted."

Duo lugged his bag into the house and stopped in the foyer to look around. It was large but not grandly so. The house seemed roomy, like a lot of people could live there and still be comfortable. There was a staircase to his left. A living area with a television and a couple couches was to his right. He leaned to right a bit look down the hall but he couldn't see much, the angle was odd. Shrugging, Duo turned toward the stairs and headed up.

The stairs changed directions at the landing and continued up to the top. The hallway at the top was very large but there was furniture scattered through it, leaving a small path with barely enough room to navigate. He could hear a conversation coming through one of the five open doors in the hall so he made his way to the room.

The two people that were talking stopped to look at him when he entered. "Hi," he said carefully, "Une told me to come up. I'm…"

"I'm Trowa Barton and this is Chang Wufei." The taller of the two cut in as he stepped forward to shake Duo's hand.

"And you must be Duo Maxwell." The shorter boy said as his narrow eyes examined Duo critically. Duo held out his hand to shake but Wufei crossed his arms and stared pointedly at him. "You're late."

He retracted his hand feeling slightly embarrassed, "That's not my fault. The airport…"

"That doesn't matter." Wufei cut him off. Trowa had moved to the window and was staring out. "So what do you do?" Wufei asked.

"What?" Duo dropped the heavy bag he was still carrying on the floor.

"What do you do? Why are you here? I'm a psychokinetic, Barton talks to animals, and you…?"

"Oh, I see things," he said, still not very comfortable with talking about his 'gift,' "What's a psychokinetic?"

"Someone with the ability to move things with their mind."

"I thought that was a telekinetic?" he asked.

"It's not the same thing." Wufei said looking irritated. Duo waited for him to elaborate but instead Wufei turned and joined Trowa at the window."

Duo shrugged and looked around the room. It was empty and he realized that that must have been the reason for the clutter of furniture in the hallway. Feeling like he was unwanted, as if he had somehow already managed to offend his housemates, he turned to leave the room to check out the other rooms. He had just cleared the door when he ran into another person trying to enter the room. He fell backwards and his leg caught the edge of a small table as he landed on the floor. The boy he collided with offered a hand to help him up.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Are you alright?" The boy asked with concern.

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine." He answered, rubbing the spot on his leg that struck the small table.

"You hit your leg." The boy said. Duo started to say it was nothing but before he could speak the boy dropped to his knee in front of Duo and started to examine the injury with his hands. "It's not cut or anything but it will be a bruise. Let me see if I can do something about that. Hold still."

"Hey!" he said in alarm, as the boy he had just bumped into slipped his hands up under Duo's pants and began touching his leg. Almost immediately, Duo could feel the boy's hands become unnaturally warm on his leg and a tingling feeling started from that spot and spread through his whole body. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped and the boy was smiling at him.

He brushed his blond hair out of his aqua eyes and smiled at Duo, "Ok, that should be good now." Then he stepped around Duo and entered the room.

"What in the—?" As Duo turned to look at the blond he belatedly realized that his leg no longer hurt, and that the headache he had been developing since he left the airport was also gone. He turned back into the room to see Wufei talking with the boy.

"I see you've met Maxwell." Wufei said with a detectable bit of disdain in his words.

"Actually, I haven't," the blond said politely while turning back to Duo. "Hi, I'm Quatre Raberba Winner." He said shaking Duo's hand.

"I'm Duo." He said. He noticed that Trowa had turned from the window and was staring at Quatre.

Almost as if he sensed the other boy's stare Quatre turned and looked at Trowa. "So tell me again what it is you do?"

Duo moved around the conversation to Trowa's previous spot at the window; it was over the front porch, he could see the yard, the driveway and beyond. As he watched, a long, black, expensive looking car pulled into the driveway behind the Escalade and a large unmarked blue van stopped on the street behind it. The driver of the black car exited and opened the back, like a chauffeur. A ginger-haired man stepped out of the car just as the driver of the van stepped out in some sort of uniform. The uniformed man approached the ginger-haired man and handed him a clipboard pointing several things out as he flipped though the pages. Two large black Rottweilers left the car and flanked the ginger-haired man.

"Who are they?" Duo asked no one in particular.

"That's Mr. Treize." Wufei said, identifying the ginger-haired man from beside Duo in the window. The other two boys stepped to the other window and they watched the scene below.

Mr. Treize finished writing on the clipboard and handed it back to the uniformed man, the boys were too far away to hear what they were saying or read their lips. The uniformed man nodded to Mr. Treize and moved to the back of the van. Two more uniformed men, holding a fourth person between them, stepped down from the opened doors. They uncuffed fourth person and, without another word, they reentered the van and drove off. The uncuffed person, Treize and the two dogs were left alone in the driveway.

"Boys, Mr. Treize has arrived. Please come down and meet him." Une called from downstairs.

They filed through the jumbled mass of furniture in the hall and down the stairs. The door opened and admitted the two large guard dogs followed by Mr. Treize holding their leashes. Une ran up excitedly and took Mr. Treize's arm, happily talking about something in his ear. Then Wufei suddenly stopped on the landing of the stairs causing Quatre to quickly step to the side to avoid hitting him. They all followed Wufei's gaze to find it locked in an icy stare with the cold blue eyes of the newest boy.


	4. Chapter 3

Title- Dangerous Bonds (3?)  
Warning- AU, and shounen-ai in future parts.  
Parings- None for this part. Will be 1+2, 3+4  
Rating- About PG-13 now. R overall  
Summary- Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there's something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough time to save themselves? This is a crossover with the Dark Visions trilogy by L.J. Smith.  
Disclaimer- I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or the Dark Visions book series. The following story is being written without profit, no malice is intended. insert pleasant, innocent smile here

Notes: ummm _/thinking or telepathy/_ it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part . As always, I've had to change the format of the_ thinking/telepathy_... feel free to point out any I missed, though I think I got them all.  
Also, I realized I had to make Treize older than everyone else comparitively. The boys, in the series, are about fifteen, in this story they're highschool seniors, that's about a two to three year difference. Treize is about nine years older than he was in the series. This will be important later in the story. Don't worry, he's not old and grey, yet.

This Fic was Beta-ed by Ilyena sylph and by Midgewood58. Also Titled and Beta-ed by my good friend PM (THANKIES ) Although any and all spelling and grammar mistakes are still completely my own.

Part 3

Wufei charged down the steps. "You," he snarled, standing toe to toe with the stranger. The other boy stared back, seemingly bored, but there was a tension about him that suggested he was ready for a fight.

The two black Rottweilers growled and started to advance on the confrontation. Treize tapped his foot lightly and the dogs came to heel at his side. "Excellent, they're all here," Treize said, ignoring what was going on between the two boys behind him.

Une stepped forward, "Alright boys, down the stairs. It's time for introductions." They all moved down the stairs and the other boy moved around Wufei with a clean step, disregarding his presence. As Wufei finally joined them in the semicircle, Une began speaking again. "This is the founder of the Treize Institute and the man responsible for gathering us all here, Mr. Treize." They proceeded to shake hands. "Mr. Treize," Une continued, "this is Trowa Barton, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Raberba Winner, Wufei Chang, and of course you know Heero Yuy."

"What is he doing here?" Wufei said, acidly.

Heero stepped towards Wufei in a threatening manner but Treize halted him. "Mr. Yuy has been released into my custody. He will live here and attend school with the rest of you. I have spoken with him and he understands the consequences of not fully living up to my expectations." He leveled his gaze on Wufei, "I trust you can live with this arrangement, Mr. Chang."

Duo had expected Wufei to fold under the pressure of Treize's mild glare but to Wufei's credit, he did not. Wufei gave a curt nod in ascension but did not break eye contact with the older man. Treize smirked and began to slowly walk around the small group assembled. "Welcome," he said in a tone that commanded attention, "to the Treize Institute. I am sure by now you realize why I have brought you here but, more important, is the purpose we hope to accomplish. What we do here will change the world. A world that is ignorant of your power, a world we will enlighten.

"All of you have been endowed with superior gifts. These gifts make you superior to the rest of humanity, held by a different set of rules and standards—"

Duo's eyes narrowed. _/There's something not right about this guy./_ He had sat through too many of this type of speech before, when some teacher or officer or power-drunk authority figure had felt he needed an attitude adjustment. They would always walk around him with their head held high, trying to give off an aura of superiority. But there was something different about this man. Duo didn't like the things he was saying. The way the speech had started was all well and good, but then it took a turn. Duo was listening absently as Treize was saying something about bring about a new era, in which he would lead them to realize their true potential. He looked around the group to gauge the other's reactions.

Une had a look of adoration in her eyes that had been there since Mr. Treize had arrived. Trowa looked impassive, or maybe that was just boredom. Quatre looked just as weary as Duo felt; at least he wasn't the only one. Wufei seemed distracted, though Duo didn't know if he was angrier with Heero or Treize. Finally, Duo's eyes settled on Heero, and he was surprised. Heero looked amused, as if he were really enjoying Treize's tirade. A small frown graced the edges of Duo's mouth _/What could possibly be funny about this speech/_

It was at that moment that Heero choose to look at the Duo, almost as if he sensed the other's eyes on him. When he saw Duo's frown, Heero's amusement increased. He watched the boy's near violet eyes widen at being caught staring before he could hide the action, his amusement turned into a full out smirk. _/Interesting./_

Duo's frown deepened and he turned away. He had the feeling the joke was on him, and he didn't like it. Treize was finishing his speech when Duo started to pay attention again. The man wished them a successful and productive stay. Then Treize turned and exited the house without another word, the dogs followed close behind.

"Where is he going?" Quatre asked.

"Mr. Treize does not live here, he is going to his home." She paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, "Relena!" she called toward the kitchen. "Come out here for a moment, please."

Seconds later, a girl entered the room from the kitchen area. She was about their age with long wheat blonde hair and cornflower blue-eyes. She bounced into the room with a friendly smile and curtsied slightly in front of the group.

"This is Relena Darlian," Une continued, "She will be helping around the house and lab." There was yet another round of introductions before Une started again. "The lab is in the basement area where we will be doing our daily testing. If you can't find me in the lab or the kitchen, I'm probably in my room, which is there," she pointed to the French doors in the hall. "Please don't hesitate to come to me with any concerns. That's it, you should take this time to sort out your rooms and get unpacked. We'll call you when dinner is ready." Une and Relena went into the kitchen.

As soon as they exited the room, Wufei turned to Heero to finish the would-be confrontation, but Heero had already turned, and was halfway up the stairs. They followed Heero to the top of the stairs, "I'm taking this room," he said and started to walk to the room at the end of the hall.

"You can't just take that room!" Wufei growled as he stood behind Heero. "There are only four rooms and that's the largest. It should go to whoever is sharing."

Heero turned, "For the last 16 hours I have been chained to a bench in the back of a detention center bus and I wouldn't mind killing you right now, Chang. I just said I am taking this room, do you want to die trying to stop me?" Wufei stepped into a fighting posture and Heero smirked as if he was waiting for the other boy to make a move. Neither of them was backing down. They both look ready to spring into action at any second.

Sighing, Duo moved up the stairs past Quatre and Trowa and somehow managed to slip past Wufei in the narrow space of the hall to stand between him and Heero. "Ahhhh Wufei, let him have the room," Duo suddenly exclaimed. "The A.C. doesn't work and he'll have to fight Whiskers the Rat to get the bed; it's not worth it." He turned to face down Heero. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that this stunt would probably get him a hospital stay. In the mean time, he figured he'd have a better chance of making it out of the situation by staring down Heero. Wufei seemed less inclined to hit him in the back.

The smirk disappeared off of Heero's face and his eyes narrowed, Duo was really sure Heero was going to hit him, but he didn't flinch. Swirling violet and cold blue met in a face off and at that moment something passed between the two that neither could ever explain. It was the beginning of something no one could begin to understand. They just knew they would not fight, at least, not then.

"Hn." Heero grunted as he turned on his heel and entered the room. "Stay out of my way, both of you." he growled as he slammed the door behind him.

Duo let out a breath he did not know he had been holding, "Well, he's a friendly sort." Duo finally said.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Maxwell," Wufei growled behind him. Duo had completely forgotten he was even there.

"Take it easy," Duo said turning with a smile. He clamped a friendly hand on Wufei's shoulder, "Wait 'til after you get the money to kick his ass. That way, you'll have a whole years worth of reasons to beat the living crap out of him and a whole lot of cash to go with them." Then he quickly slipped out of Wufei's reach before the boy decided to take his frustrations out on him.

"Since there are now three rooms to the four of us, we should double up in those two rooms with the shared bathroom and use the this room as a common room." Trowa said, stepping out of the room directly across from the top of the stairs. No one had even noticed when he slipped away during the stand off.

"That's a great idea Trowa," Quatre said. "I'll room with Duo and Wufei can room with you." Quatre felt this arrangement would be best because Trowa's calm demeanor would rub off on Wufei, something that would probably be for the best in the next year.

"That's fine. We will take this room." Wufei said stiffly as he waked into the room on the left side. Trowa followed him silently.

Duo shrugged and turned to Quatre, "So, which side do you want?"


	5. Chapter 4

Title- Dangerous Bonds (4?)  
Warning- AU, Mild violence and shounen-ai in future parts.  
Parings- 1+2, 3+4  
Rating- R  
Summary- Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there's something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough time to save themselves? This is a crossover with the Dark Visions trilogy by L.J. Smith.  
Disclaimer- I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or the Dark Visions book series. The following story is being written without profit, no malice is intended. insert pleasant, innocent smile here

Notes: ummm /thinking or telepathy\\ it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part ,

This Fic was Beta-ed by Ilyena sylph and by Midgewood58. Also Titled by my good friend PM (THANKIES ) Although any and all spelling and grammar mistakes are still completely my own.

Chapter 4

/This isn't as bad as I thought.\\

Duo was helping Wufei set the table; somehow Trowa had managed to get Wufei out of the killing rage. Duo was grateful, Wufei wasn't such a bad guy once he mellowed out a bit. Quatre and Trowa were helping Une make the plates and Relena was upstairs trying to get Heero out of his room for dinner. It was like they were a family already; it had a very calming effect on Duo, he felt at home.

Duo and Wufei had just finished when the others brought the night's meal in from the kitchen. Five people took seats at the table set for seven and waited for the final two.

Time stretched.

Duo started to get antsy and Wufei started to scowl. Finally, after the fourth time Une glanced at her watch, Relena descended the steps, alone.

"He's not coming," Relena looked jumpy as she took her seat.

"What do you mean he's not coming?" Une asked.

"He said that he was not coming down tonight and he told me… to leave." Relena had paused to censor her words and suddenly her discomfort was understandable.

Wufei growled in a way that was quickly becoming familiar. "What kind of coward threatens a woman?"

Une sighed, looking tired for perhaps the first time since any of them had met her. "It's not a requirement to eat with us, but this is the first night we have all been here. Is it too much to ask that he be present?" She stood and headed upstairs to Heero's room.

Heero turned his attention back to cleaning his gun after he sent the girl away. She had been annoyingly persistent, until he described exactly how he was going to dispose of her body. He had better things to do than wasting his time with them. He was thinking, planning, and he didn't want to have anyone snooping around his room. /I don't have to leave. If I stay out of trouble for the year I'll be free. I'll have money to do anything and go anywhere and I won't need anyone. I won't have to follow orders. I will stay away from them by getting them to stay away from me, especially Chang. I should have been warned that he would he here. He's going to cause problems.\\

There was a knock at his door and Une's voice drifted lightly through it. "Heero, I would like you to join us for dinner tonight."

"No," Heero said, perfectly prepared to send her away as well.

There was a pause and then Une growled, "HEERO YUY."

Less than two minutes after she left, Une returned with Heero trailing down the stairs behind her. Heero looked homicidal and yet he still took his seat at the table with everyone else.

Dinner was ordinary. There was light conversation, jokes and comfortable silences. Trowa enjoyed the atmosphere and his companions, though he stayed quiet. Quatre, Duo, Relena and Une seemed to be carrying the conversation, Wufei would contribute occasionally but he seemed too distracted to really enjoy himself. Quatre tried to bring Trowa into the conversation several times but he politely sidestepped the attempts. He preferred to be a silent observer. Everything went smoothly and everyone seemed to be getting along except for Heero, who was silent for the whole meal and shot murderous glares at anyone who looked in his direction. But even with Heero and Wufei's attitude, and Quatre's persistence, it was still nice, and it was the most normal dinner Trowa had ever had.

After dinner, Une excused them all for the night. She went to her room behind the French doors and Relena started collecting the plates to clear off the table. Heero immediately went back to his room and Duo disappeared, mumbling something about fresh air.

Trowa, Quatre and Wufei decided to finish furnishing the rooms. It was light work, dragging the few remaining chairs and table or so into the common room. The rest of the furniture had been divided up by sets during the day among the bedrooms so that all that remained by that evening had not quite matched. But at least there was adequate lighting provided by all the weird lights; there was a large window that faced towards the back of the house, but a large tree had grow directly in front of it, blocking the view and any natural light that would have shown through. The common room looked sort of weird but none of the boys cared. When they finished, they stood back to admire the job they had done.

"This room needs books," Wufei said as he looked around.

"Also, a television or radio would be nice. What do you think, Trowa?" Quatre asked, smiling.

Trowa's head shot up to look at Quatre. He wasn't used to anyone talking to him more than necessary or asking his opinion, with the exception of his sister. However, since he had met the other boy, Quatre had been talking to him, not at him but to him, trying to engage him in conversation or to draw him out. It was unusual and a little difficult to get used to. Still, he didn't want to be rude to the first person that had attempted to befriend him, so he actually answered. "A radio would be fine."

This would be an interesting year.

Heero was out on his balcony. /This will provide access to the woods incase I need a quick exit.\\ Heero scanned the tree line to see if there was already a discernable path, there was. A narrow unpaved road at the bottom of the hill that cut through the trees behind the third house on the row. /No access to a map. I need to find where the road leads and if there's a quicker route through the trees.\\ There was a tree growing next to his balcony that he could have easily used to climb down but he deemed it unnecessary, it was in view of the patio door and anyone in the kitchen would be able to see him clearly. Without hesitation, he vaulted over the balcony railing and landed behind the house. He intended to do some quick reconnaissance and return within the hour but what he saw on the ground was totally unexpected.

After dinner, Duo felt like drawing. With all the excitement he hadn't taken any time for himself and now that things had settled down, he need a moment to relax. Duo got his drawing pad and pencils out of his new room and set out to find a calm place. He found the perfect spot just behind the house. A hill dropped off into trees and from the top of the hill you could see just over their canopy to the full moon hanging in the sky. Perfect.

Duo lost himself in the sketch he was doing, so focused on his surroundings that he couldn't really see them. He never noticed the figure that detached itself from the trees and slowly made its way up the hill, didn't see it until the person was already on him.

/Shit!\\ he thought vehemently. Getting jumped was something he was used to but never in the dark by some strange person when it was totally unexpected. Duo cursed himself as he tried to shake the guy off, thinking it was just some pervert that thought he had found a helpless girl to take advantage of.

"Get the hell off me!" he shouted, making sure the guy would know he was not a girl. His attacker didn't let up. In fact, he struggled with Duo more.

"Shut up, Duo Maxwell." The attacker hissed violently at the boy's outburst.

That took Duo off guard//How does he know my name?\\ His second of hesitation allowed the man to get the upper hand in the scuffle and allowed him to wrap his hands around Duo's throat and squeeze.

Duo couldn't talk, could barely breathe; and when he moved, the attackers hands tightened so he had no choice but to lay motionless and listen to the man.

"You're too much trouble, Boy. I should leave you to fate. You have no idea the danger you're in Duo Maxwell. You need to leave this place. Leave it now before it's too late. Before someone DIES."

Then, for reasons unknown, the guy's grip loosened. It wasn't much but it was all Duo needed. He swung his elbow sharply, it connected with a satisfying crack, and he scrambled away from the guy. The attacker recovered quickly and jumped at Duo; the scuffle started again, this time more violent than before.

The unmistakable sound of a gun cocking cut through the sounds of the struggle. Both stilled.

"Get up," a calm voice ordered somewhere out of Duo's line of sight. The man released him, stood up and Duo could see past him. Heero was standing coolly with a gun against the head of the guy Duo had seen in the airport earlier. The man's long nose was bent at an angle and bleeding; belatedly Duo realized that must have been the cracking noise he heard earlier.

"Who the hell are you? And why are you following me? …And how do you know my name?" Duo couldn't scream as he wanted, he was still breathless from being choked.

Heero nudged the man's head with the barrel of the gun, "Answer." 

Suddenly, the gun flew out of Heero's hand and over his head as if it had been tossed. The man didn't waste a second and darted off in the opposite direction towards the trees. Heero dived at the gun. He caught it before it hit the ground and turned in the direction the man had gone but the attacker had already slipped between the trees and was gone.

"K'so!" Heero said as he stood and put the gun somewhere in the back of his shorts. He turned to look at Duo as if the gun incident was his fault.

But Duo missed the look; he was more concerned with other things. "What the hell is your problem?" He was livid as he stalked towards Heero, "You're on probation and you have a gun! Do you know what will happen if you get caught with that?"

"You're welcome," Heero said blandly as he moved around Duo to get back in the house. The recon he had planned was shot to hell. He would have to do it another night.

"I didn't need your help." Duo said, hotly. Really, he was angrier with himself than with Heero. He hated it when people thought he was weak or helpless, and he hated it even more when he did something to make people think that.

"Yes," Heero turned back to Duo with his eyes glinting like ice. "You had the situation completely under control."

"I can handle myself!" Duo nearly shouted; he was just as angry as Heero.

"Fine! Stay out of my way." As an afterthought he added, " And if anyone finds out about the gun, I will kill you." And with that, he turned and stalked back into the house.

Duo stared at the door for a few seconds before angrily turning back to pick up his things. He collected the sketchbook and started for the scattered pencils, but something caught his eye. A wrinkled glossed picture was reflecting the light of the moon, Duo moved to pick it up. It was a photograph of a small white house sitting on a bluff over looking a gray beach. In front of the house was a fountain and its centerpiece was the largest, perfectly formed crystal Duo had ever seen. It was beautiful a sparkling green that seemed alive even as it shined on the still photo. Without a second thought, Duo slipped it in his sketchbook, picked up the remaining few pencils and reentered the house.

Collapsing on his new bed, he stared at the ceiling in the dark room. Duo could hear the others in the common room talking and moving around, things he didn't have the strength to do. He would have loved to go in there and talk with them but he was grubby from the scuffle and they would ask questions, too many questions. Besides, he was tired. If he could just close his eyes for a second… and rest…

When Duo opened his eyes the house was quiet. He looked over to the other side of the room to see Quatre fully asleep and he couldn't see any light from the hall under the door. /I wonder how long I've been out?\\ He rolled off the bed hitting the floor near soundlessly and walked to the door. He decided he could get a better idea of what to do in the bathroom.

/I look like shit,\\ he thought with a sigh. In the bathroom mirror he could see the smudges on his face and clothes and that he had grass through his braid. He took his time fixing the braid and washing his face but he decided there was nothing he could do about his clothes until morning. He was going back to his room to get some more sleep but Heero's words from earlier came back to him. "Stay out of my way," he had said. Duo turned abruptly and headed to the room at the end of the hall.

Against better judgment, Duo pushed the door open and stalked in silently. It was dark but he could just make out the shape of a four-poster bed in the corner, but he couldn't tell if someone was in it. He started to move forward but was thrown back against the door and pinned by a forearm against his throat.

Duo smiled ruefully even though he found it difficult to breathe for the second time in a few hours. He didn't feel threatened, despite having a gun to his head and Heero looking extremely pissed off in his face.

"You're not gonna shoot me, Heero." He heard the gun cock in answer. "It's kinda hard to breathe, ya know." Duo croaked out.

"I said I would kill you." Heero said as he removed his arm, but not the gun.

"That was if I told anyone about that," he said nudging the barrel with his head, "and I haven't."

"You're a liability."

"But I'll be more of one dead."

Heero still didn't move.

Duo stopped smiling then, "I'm not afraid of you," he said seriously.

Heero put the gun down and lean closer. Duo could see his eyes flash through the dark, "Get out and don't ever come back or you won't have the chance to be."

Duo had to slide around the doorknob to open the door because Heero hadn't stepped back. "Is that a threat, or a promise?" Duo asked with his usual grin back in place before slipping through the door. He didn't stay for the answer.


	6. Chapter 5

Title- Dangerous Bonds (5?)  
Warning- AU, Mild violence and shounen-ai in future parts.  
Parings- 1+2, 3+4  
Rating- R  
Summary- Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there's something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough time to save themselves? This is a crossover with the Dark Visions trilogy by L.J. Smith.  
Disclaimer- I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or the Dark Visions book series. The following story is being written without profit, no malice is intended. insert pleasant, innocent smile here

Notes: ummm _/thinking or telepathy_/ it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part. Opps all most forgot to add the italics

This Fic was Beta-ed by Ilyena sylph and by Midgewood58. Also Titled by my good friend PM (THANKIES ) Although any and all spelling and grammar mistakes are still completely my own.

Chapter 5

_/Man that was seriously stupid_./

When Duo woke up that morning, he realized how crazy he had been the night before. He had no business going in to Heero's room and he hadn't even gone in there with any specific goal or reason. He had just done it to do it, and he was probably lucky Heero hadn't blown off his head. It had been stupid, though he wasn't really surprised at his actions. He frequently used a glib attitude when in any sort of danger, and then he would find a suitable time to freak out later. But this time was different; he had really meant what he told Heero. He wasn't afraid of the other boy, even with a loaded gun to his head.

Duo considered telling Une about the attack from the previous night, leaving Heero out of it, of course, but he decided against it. He didn't want to upset everyone for no reason; he knew the guy wouldn't come back. Somehow, he just knew.

Fortunately, he didn't have time to dwell on that fact. His day was going to be busy, the first at his new school as well as the first day of testing. Une made the wake-up call a little too early for Duo's taste, but he got over it quickly. He was used to irregular sleeping hours from years of waking up in the dead of night, unable to get back to sleep.

The early morning bathroom situation was a bit of a mess. A bathroom with a shower connected the two rooms they shared; there was another bathroom in the hallway, the one Duo had used the night before, but everyone had tried to rush into the shower first and it caused a back up. They sorted things out eventually and managed to make it to breakfast on time, everyone one except Heero. Apparently, Heero's room had it's own bathroom and shower, so no one had seen him all morning and no one seemed starved for his company.

Heero finally showed up when Une called everyone to get in the Escalade for the drive to school. His mood had not improved overnight and he looked as surly as ever. He was pointedly ignoring everyone but he took special care to avoid Duo and Wufei.

Wufei couldn't have cared less. He had all but said that he'd be happier if he never laid eyes on Heero Yuy again, causing Duo to once again wonder at what sort of history those two shared. But, obviously, neither one of them was talking.

Before Une pulled out of the driveway she turned to face her charges. "Gentlemen, this will be your first day at your new school. I assure you; this is the best school in the area, one of the best schools in the country. I have your schedules here," she said, passing them to the back. "I took the liberty of registering your classes. A lot of consideration went into the selections and I realize that some of you have schedules that differ greatly from the schedule of your previous schools. Your new classes should be appropriately challenging and they will also tie into some of the work we will be doing in the lab. I also realize these classes may seem difficult at first but I believe you will be able to handle them. I ask that you try them for a week before you consider changing your schedules. Now, before we leave, do you have everything you need? Have I forgotten to mention anything? Do you have any questions?"

"Isn't Ms. Relena coming with us?" Quatre asked. The others were busy staring at their schedules, dumbstruck.

"Ms. Relena is a part time student at Saint Gabriel, the local community college. I don't believe she has any classes today so she will be here to assist me in the lab when you get back from school." Then she turned back around in her seat, started the SUV, and they were headed to school.

It was nearly impossible to talk on the short, uneventful trip because of the sense of nervousness surrounding the boys. When they pulled up, Une parked right at the front steps. It looked like classes hadn't started yet, there were a few students standing around and a few buses were pulling up and stopping behind where Une had parked. She told everyone to get out and wait.

"Someone is supposed to come out to meet us," she said as she got out to wait with them. The boys were hyper-aware of all the eyes watching them. The students seemed to have taken immediate notice of the curious group assembled.

Less than a minute later, a handful of people bustled their way down the steps. They moved with excitement as they shooed away the loiterers and then came to shake hands with Une and the rest of the group. Another short welcoming speech was made, then the woman who had introduced herself as the principal called over a student aide who had been standing off to the side watching the proceedings with moderate interest. The boys were sent away with the aide so the administrators could finish making complete sycophants of themselves.

The aide led them inside and gave them quick tour all around the building, which was fairly sizeable, three floors with an annexed auditorium at one end of the building and an annexed gymnasium at the other. They were shown the locations of all their classes and, as a personal touch from the aide, all the hang out spots where the cliques gathered within the halls. The tour ended when the aide dropped them off at the guidance office so they could get their school I.D.s and locker assignments. The aide wished them all luck and then ran off to catch the end of homeroom, as school had begun by that time.

Starting classes nearly a full month after the school year starts will draw attention to you, unwanted or not. Each of the boys dealt with it in their own way. Duo, being used to attention of a negative kind, was enjoying the social setting, which was a welcome change. Quatre was very friendly to everyone and seemed to fit in with his surroundings immediately with incredible ease. Wufei was not enjoying the attention but was courteous and respectful to all of those around him. Trowa was not outwardly rude or standoffish but he was not making an effort to be friendly. Despite how they handled their new surroundings, they seemed to be most comfortable around each other. Heero, on the other hand, was generally avoided by everyone, and he liked it that way.

As they went through the day, whispers seemed to surround them and multiply. Five seemingly different boys, all from the same address, appeared one day out of the blue; the rumors spread like wildfire. However, this time, truth seemed to be stranger than fiction and all of the boys seemed content to let the stories stand; they allowed everyone to think what they wanted. By the end of the day, each boy had his own small fan club.

Une came back to pick them up at the end of school. She asked them what they had done and received the usual teenage response: "Nothing." For the answer she had expected, it was a little too brief to be accurate, but it wasn't too far from the truth. With all excitement surrounding them, they hadn't accomplished much schoolwork. Back at the Institute, she gave them two hours to themselves before the testing started which was to be used for doing homework. When Une was finally ready for them, they were ushered down the hall to the steps that led down to the basement.

The lab did not match their views of a conventional laboratory, there were sofas and recliners set up sporadically over the floor but there was also a noticeable amount of electrical equipment; it looked like a large, unorganized living room. There were three people standing in the center of the room, Relena and two others.

"This is Silvia and Nicol," Une introduced once she was at the bottom of the steps. "They will be helping us with today's round of experiments."

Silvia smiled and waved slightly, tossing her blonde hair. She was sitting in a wheelchair that looked like it was too large to move around the floor. Nicol, on the other hand, looked a bit arrogant with his face set in a grimace; his crisp military style cut only accentuated the image.

Une pointed Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei each to different workstations, while Heero stayed at the bottom of the steps looking about as happy to be there as Nicol.

Duo was led to a corner behind a partition. Though the lab was well lit, the divider blocked most of the light.

"We're going to try some remote viewing today, just like we did back at your previous school. I want you to concentrate and see if any images come to you."

"Concentrate on what?" Duo asked sitting down in a chair by a small table.

"There is a projector on the other side of the partition projecting an image on to it…" she stopped and seemed to think better of what she was saying. "Though, I don't want you to think about the projector or even look at the partition. Just clear your mind and let the image come to you."

"But it usually doesn't happen like that." He was worried/What if I can't do this, will I have to leave?

"Don't worry about that, this is just an experiment," she could see the anxiety on his face. "I'm just going to put this little electrode on your forehead for recording purposes. Don't worry about that either, just concentrate. I'm going to get the others set up then I'll be back to check on your progress." She slid around the partition and disappeared.

Duo was at a loss. Une had told him not to think about the image and to concentrate with a clear mind; he was thoroughly confused. He didn't know what he was supposed to be doing but he concentrated anyway.

He got nothing.

Une returned a few minutes later, "Any progress?"

"No," Duo answered, discouraged.

"It's ok, this is just the first test. Here," she removed the electrode from his head. Une reached behind her back and added something to it out of his sight and then she replaced it. "I just put some more electrode cream on, it should help the machine pick up readings."

"It's cold," he said resisting the urge to pull it from his head.

"Don't worry, it will warm up shortly. Just concentrate again."

But he didn't have to; his hand had already started drawing without him noticing. Une slipped out once again and he was left alone drawing. The cold spot on his forehead did not warm like Une had said; it seemed to get more irritating. Then the irritation turned to pain; the cold turned biting like it was eating through his skin. But his hand stayed in motion. He could no longer see what he was drawing as his vision started to blur and colors started to swim. Just as he thought he would pass out, a terrifying scream broke through his consciousness.

At that moment he was completely disoriented. He didn't know who he was, where he was, or even who was screaming. For a few startled seconds, he thought it might have been himself. When he realized it wasn't, he stood and wandered away from the partition towards the source of the scream. The electrode was still attached to his head but he didn't notice. His vision began to clear as the scream faded and he started to discern his surroundings.

"How long?" a calm, familiar voice asked. Mr. Treize.

"Forty-five seconds." a second, more excited voice answered. Une.

"Excellent," replied Mr. Treize.

Duo couldn't see where they were standing; instead his attention was drawn to a huge black tank in the center of the room against the back wall. Heero pulled himself out of the tank and sat on the top, he was dripping wet and covered with electrodes.

"Ms. Relena, please escort the young man upstairs and get him a taxi;" Treize said.

Relena had her arm wrapped around Nicol, who was shaking. He looked terrified. As Relena struggled past, dragging Nicol, she saw Duo and gave him an odd look, almost like… anger. Her eyes flashed quickly in the direction of the tank before exiting, pulling Nicol with her.

Treize followed them out smiling at Duo as he walked by. "Good day, Mr. Maxwell." he said. Duo got the impression of a snake slithering by and became even more puzzled.

"DUO! You're not supposed to be back here." Une gasped, drawing Heero's attention to the braided boy looking lost in the entryway. Heero's eyes narrowed but the action went unnoticed because at that moment the pain in his forehead suddenly flared so intense it drove him to his knees. Duo started to swat blindly at the spot on his forehead but before he could do anything Une was beside him. She knocked his hands away, removed the electrode and strode out of the room quickly. It happened so fast and all Duo was left with was an odd gut feeling and a mild, but insistent, headache.

"Hn." Heero passed by still dripping in an oversized pair of swim trunks. Duo followed him out. Heero headed for the stairs after Treize, Duo hesitated in the center of the room, unsure of where to go.

Une was standing in front of the partition holding a piece of paper, his drawing. Duo could see she was looking from the drawing to the projection of a bowl of fruit. She called him and he walked over trying not to look as timid as he felt. There was no way he could have drawn the complex bowl of fruit that was being projected. His hand had been moving too fast and he hadn't gotten an impression of what he was drawing, not even a vague one, just blinding pain. It was probably just scratches.

"You did this in three minutes?" she asked slowly.

"I- I don't know. It was about that I guess."

"Duo. This is… this is perfect." She finally said with nothing short of amazement.

"What?" He said so quickly he nearly choked. He stepped forward to look over her shoulder at the drawing; it was perfect. From the number of grapes to the textured shading, it looked exactly like the projection. He took a step back; never, in his entire life, had he ever drawn anything that detailed. Something like that would take… days… weeks, not minutes. And the way it just ended; the whole top left corner of the drawing was not there, not even a mark.

He couldn't have done it; it was too perfect. He had done it; it was his style. He knew it was his just as surely as he knew the true fate of his parents.

"Too much."

Une hadn't heard his barely spoken words; she was having trouble containing her excitement. "This is excellent work. We need to try again, immediately!"

"NO!" He shouted.

Une had heard that, she recoiled from his shout.

He covered his mouth surprised at his own outburst. "What I mean is, I can't. I have a headache and I really should lay down or something," he finished weakly; he just wanted to get out of there. No way he would do ever that again.

"Yes," Une said slowly, still giving him an odd look. "You are, of course, correct. This was a perfect test result and there is no need to over exert you." Her tone had hardened and she was giving him a pointed look that was completely out of place on her normally cheerful face. Then she blinked and the expression was replaced with her ordinary dispositions like he had imagined the whole thing. "Oh dear, if you have a headache it's probably due to the busy day," she continued as if she didn't remember saying the previous sentences. "Go get some sleep, I'll get you for dinner."

Duo didn't even stop to think about all the weird occurrences, he fled the basement lab.

Quatre looked up just in time to see the end of Duo's braid disappear through the door at the top of the stairs. He had felt rather than seen Duo go by and he frowned slightly at the wash of emotions he was getting from people exiting the lab. Duo's bothered him the most; Quatre knew something had disturbed the braided boy enough to make him feel like he had to run. He sighed and set himself to see what was wrong with his roommate when he had the time.

"Is everything alright?" Silvia asked Quatre. She had probably noticed his attention slip when Duo had run by. He was supposed to be examining her leg but he had actually been healing some of the minor muscle damage, until he had been distracted.

"Hmm? What did you say?" Quatre asked.

"Is everything alright?"

"Oh yes," he smiled, "everything is fine. Try moving your ankle."

"But… I haven't been able to—"

"Just try," insisted Quatre.

Silvia gasped when she felt her ankle move.

"You did it." He said.

"No, You did it," She chirped happily. "Thank you so much."

"It's not really—"

"It's everything. Just this little bit means so much. Grandfather will be so pleased!" she exclaimed. By that time her words had carried across the room and Une came to join them. Silvia told her an overly exciting account of how Quatre made her whole leg move and by the time she was finished both Une and Silvia were ecstatic.

"Would you like to come back to work with Quatre again?" Une offered.

"I would love to! That is, if Quatre would have me back." She was batting her eyelashes at him, receiving a polite smile in return.

"That would be fine," he said as his attention slowly wandered away. Quatre excused himself and followed his senses; he wound up next to Wufei and Trowa, the only people remaining in the room.

Wufei seemed deeply immersed in his activity at the computer and did not look like he would appreciate being disturbed. Trowa, on the other hand, was just sitting with his back to the table he had been working at, holding something in his hand.

"Hello, Trowa," Quatre said taking a seat next to him.

"Quatre," Trowa nodded in return.

"What are you doing?" He asked inquisitively, peaking over the other boy's shoulder to get a look at what was in his hands. He felt Trowa tense and he realized, belatedly, that he was making him uncomfortable. Quatre backed off.

Taking a relaxing breath, Trowa turned to Quatre with his hands opened wider, revealing a small mouse.

"Who is this?" Quatre asked smiling at the small creature.

"Her name is Oscar, she was part of my experiment."

"Oh, did she tell you her name?" Quatre knew he had said something wrong immediately. Oscar, who had been nibbling on a small piece of cheese in Trowa's hand, suddenly stopped and turned to look at Quatre. In turn, Quatre looked at Trowa who was staring at him blankly.

"It was on her cage." He said, dead pan. Trowa stood and placed the mouse back in the maze on the table and walked away, leaving the confused boy to wonder what he had done.

"He doesn't talk to animals."

Quatre turned to look at Wufei who was still facing a computer monitor just as he had been when Quatre walked by.

"He told me yesterday. He doesn't talk to animals; he can only influence them. Our," there was a slight pause while Wufei searched for the right word, "-talents- are a touchy subject to each of us."

"Thank you, Wufei," said Quatre as he stood up. He would find Trowa and apologize. _/It was an honest mistake./_

Quatre went upstairs to search for Trowa, but he found Duo first. He was sitting on the couch in the den with his head in his hands.

"Duo, what's wrong?"

"It's just a headache," he mumbled.

_/He's lying,_/ Quatre thought with a slight frown._ /There's something else bothering him. But first…_/ He gently pulled Duo's hands away from his head, "You'll have to sit still for a moment so I can concentrate."

Duo wanted to ask him what he was about to do but he felt as if he could trust Quatre, so he held his question.

Quatre's hands ran lightly around his head but he wasn't finding anything until he touched Duo's forehead. With a gasp he pulled his hand back as if it had been burned, "What happened?"

"What is it?"

"There's a build up of negative energy around your third eye."

Duo blinked, "There's what around my what?"

He shook his head, "It would take a while to explain and doesn't really matter at the moment. I think I can fix this."

Quatre placed his hands on the side of Duo's head and bent till their foreheads touched. It was a simple contact but Duo could feel a difference immediately. The pressure was lifted and replaced with what Duo could only describe as golden energy. He couldn't see it but he could feel it rush over him like it had when Quatre had healed his leg but in much greater amounts. About thirty seconds later, Quatre stepped back.

Duo took a deep breath. He felt completely invigorated, like he had just run a mile and could run ten more. "Thanks!"

Quatre smiled, then sat down, hard.

Duo was on the floor next to him in a second. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, that just took a lot of energy. How's your headache." He was breathing like he had run a couple of miles.

"It's completely gone. Are you sure I can't get you anything?"

"No." With one final deep breath he stood up. "I didn't know you could draw so well, Duo."

"I can't," he said sitting back with a frown.

"But…"

"I Really Don't Want To Talk About That Now." Duo said a little louder than necessary. He shook his head and apologized, "Sorry, man. Thanks for your help. Trowa went upstairs."

Quatre nodded and trekked upstairs, he found Trowa in the common room. Quatre knocked before pushing the door all the way open and entering.

Trowa looked up from the book he was holding. He hadn't been reading, he was thinking about Quatre. He knew walking away had been childish but he had done it anyway. The truth was that he wasn't even upset about the innocent comment, not even the mildly annoyed feelings he got when anyone else made the same mistake.

It was as if he couldn't act normally around Quatre. He wouldn't allow Trowa to be cool and aloof like he was with everyone else. Trowa was more upset with himself and his actions than he was at Quatre. In fact, he didn't think he could be upset with Quatre. The thought made him uneasy.

"Trowa, I wanted to apologize."

"It's alright, Quatre. You don't have to."

"But I should. I'm sorry I offended you. It was a silly thing to say on my part and I'm sorry."

"You said that twice," he said staring hard at the other boy, trying to figure him out.

Quatre smiled and extended a hand, "That's because I really meant it."

He looked from the hand to Quatre's face. Trowa was under the impression he was developing a weak spot for that smile; it was almost infectious. For whatever reason, whether it was the smile or the earnest look in those aqua eyes, he took the hand.

It was an odd feeling. Not the handshake, there was nothing extraordinary about that; it was what the shake was doing. Trowa had never been on equal footing before; he had never fit in with anyone. At the circus he preferred to stay with the animals rather than people, even his sister. Catherine meant well but she had always treated him as more of a beloved pet than her little brother. He knew she loved him and was doing the best she could, but it was still nowhere near the level of rapport he was getting from shaking the hand of Quatre Raberba Winner. And that was an odd feeling.

"Thank you." Trowa said softly.

"For what?"

"For saying sorry."

* * *

Ok… so this is the part where I BEG for feedback. And I really need it this time. I need to know if I'm doing Quatre and Trowa right. 

In the original books, Duo's character starts out liking Quatre's but one of the main reasons I stopped writing this the first time was I can't write 2+4, there's too much cuteness, it make my head hurt. So when I started to write this again, I was running into the same problem. My solution was to take it out entirely because in the books Duo's character ends up with Heero's and Quatre's with Trowa's anyway. The problem was Quatre's and Trowa's characters end up together as an afterthought and I really don't want to do that to them because they get that enough in most 1+2+1 fics. If they end up together at the end of this it will be because I develop their relationship. If I can't do that then they stay really close friends.

So, I need the feedback to tell me what I'm doing right and/or wrong, because, sadly, I don't read much 3+4+3. Is Quatre being too flaky? Is Trowa too whiney and insecure? Any concerns about the other character? Help me out here.

Plus feedback in any form is apreciated


	7. Chapter 6

Title- Dangerous Bonds (6/?)  
Warning- AU, Mild violence and shounen-ai in future parts.  
Parings- 1+2, 3+4  
Rating- R  
Summary- Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there's something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough time to save themselves? This is a crossover with the Dark Visions trilogy by L.J. Smith.  
Disclaimer- I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or the Dark Visions book series. The following story is being written without profit, no malice is intended. insert pleasant, innocent smile here

Notes: ummm _/thinking or telepathy_/ it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part. Opps all most forgot to add the italics

This Fic was Beta-ed by Ilyena sylph Although any and all spelling and grammar mistakes are still completely my own.

Chapter 6

_/Why am I so surprised?/_

Duo was standing on a slice of beach over looking a gray ocean, again. //This is the same dream I've had every night I've been here and it just keeps getting better.\ He thought sarcastically, frowning.

"Hello," he called out to hear his voice reverberate. It wasn't quite the same as a mountaintop echo but it was about the only thing interesting about the place. Duo sighed as he sat down on the sand. The beach seemed to be getting fractionally larger every time he had this dream over the last four nights but it was still just a strip of land isolated by water and darkness. He knew there was more to this dream than what he was seeing, something he was supposed to figure out, but it was as elusive as what lay just beyond the void surrounding him. He tried to search around but he couldn't get through the darkness. No matter how far into the darkness he stepped he still remained on the edge like he hadn't moved at all; so he sat. He ended up sitting in the same spot and waiting for the dream to end or move on to something different.

He was starting to wonder if this had something to do with the headaches. After the second day of testing and blinding pain, he started to make excuses to get away from the lab. He even went as far as walking away the second that Une turned her back, but he had never managed to get away before the pain started. Duo was getting tired of crawling to Quatre for help. With nothing else to occupy his time while he waited in his beach dream, he tried thinking of ways to put an end to the testing but then everything was suddenly moving. It was like an earthquake; Duo was sure the beach was going to rip itself apart.

He blinked.

The shaking didn't stop until he opened his eyes. He was back in his bed in the room he shared with Quatre, with Relena's hand over his mouth.

"Shut up," she said in a whisper. " You don't have much time and I have even less. You're in danger here, you and all your friends. You need to leave before you end up like the pilot."

Duo reached up slowly and pushed Relena's hand away, "What are you talking about?"

"Shut up. Just shut up. You think you know every thing, so full of yourselves, just like them. You're just like Him! But you're going to see if you don't leave while you can." She paused and turned to the door as if she heard something in the hall. When she turned back her eyes were shining with unshed tears. "Please, Duo," she sounded slightly choked. "You –know- there's something going on here. You're the only one who will believe me. I want you to go, so the same doesn't happen to you. You have to get out of here."

Relena stepped back from the bed and… disappeared. When he blinked again, he was back on the beach.

* * *

By the time he woke up, the whole ordeal had slipped Duo's mind. He went through his morning routine completely unaware, until he saw Relena in the kitchen. She looked normal enough, pouring orange juice with her back to the door, but Duo decided to ask her anyway.

"Good morning," he said entering the kitchen.

"Good morning, Duo," she answered keeping her back to him.

"You will not believe this, but the weirdest thing happened to me last night…"

"Oh?" she said, in subdued tones.

"Yeah," he continued, "I had a dream that you came into my room last night and started talking crazy. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"It was a joke," she said flatly.

"What?" He had expected her to tell him he was crazy, not admit to the whole thing.

Relena sighed, set the juice pitcher down and turned to him with a brittle fake smile. She said, "You're a psychic, you should know this already. It was just a joke."

"It wasn't funny," Duo was angry. "Listen, Relena. I don't know what planet you grew up on, but when you sneak into someone's room in the middle of the night and threaten them—"

"I did not threaten you," she said quickly, and then she forced the smile back. "You're nice, Duo, but not too bright. It was a joke. No harm done, so let's just forget the whole thing." Then she picked up the tray of freshly poured juice and left the kitchen.

He waited a few second before following her to the dining room, but he couldn't continue the conversation because the others were already at the table. She avoided him again by leaving before breakfast was over and he had no time to look for her because Une ushered them to the SUV, like she did every morning. Time for school.

On the ride to school they all knew Duo was being unusually quiet, but no one commented and it gave him the opportunity to think about things. First, the pain, then the dream, and finally Relena; as they pulled up to the school, he had made up his mind. He would talk to Une.

"Is there something wrong, Duo?" She asked when she noticed he was hanging back.

"Well, I'm not really sure," he said wondering where to begin. He started with the most recent thing, "I think there's something wrong with Relena… She's… acting weird."

Une frowned with concern, "What is she doing?"

"Last night, she came into my room and she threatened me."

"She did what?" Une asked, but her whole demeanor had changed, back like it had been right before he had run out of the lab on the first day.

Duo hesitated before continuing, "She told me to leave the Institute but she wasn't acting at all like herself. Then when I asked her about it this morning… she acted as if it was all a big joke…" He trailed off. He shouldn't have brought it up, something was wrong. Now he was less worried about himself and what would happen to Relena.

"Hmm," she had a cruel edge to her smile. "I'll just have to take care of her," Une said deviously.

"Une?"

"Oh no," she said lightly, back to her normal self. "Don't worry about that. She must have stopped taking her medicine again. I'll talk to her about that, it's no problem, really. Now, you should hurry to your homeroom before you're late." Une drove off leaving a very confused Duo in her wake. He had more questions now then ever.

Duo went through the morning deep in thought. He was thinking about everything that had taken place since he left his home, mostly about himself. When he left, he was doing so to understand what he was, to understand his so-called "gift." But he was getting more confused and, even though he had not been gone a week, he was getting more and more troubled. Growing up in his hometown had taught him to know when he was in over his head and when the time came to cut and run; it was starting to get to that point. Something dangerous was going on, he knew that, and he couldn't avoid it.

He knew that Quatre was worried about him, but he wasn't ready to answer anyone else's questions before he could answer his own, so he skipped lunch. Instead of sitting with Quatre, Trowa and Wufei, he went for a walk around the school grounds. Duo skirted around the patrolling administrators on instinct, leaving him free to think as he intended; until he ran across Heero.

Heero had never eaten lunch in the cafeteria with the others. He wasn't welcomed, at least not by Wufei. That was fine with Heero; he preferred to stay away from them. So he sat in the nook behind the gym every day. He was left alone, even by the administrators, because he had scared away the smokers. They were more than happy to let him do the job they never could. Heero enjoyed the momentary solitude he got every day.

"Heero," Duo was surprised to see him.

"Go away," he said, not really expecting the other to listen.

"Why?"

"Why are you here?"

"Where else would I be?" Duo said absently. He turned away from Heero and sat against a wall.

"Wandering off to get attacked."

"That wasn't my fault! The guy was looking for me he was at the airport. Why are you so—"

"So you decided to make it easy for him?" Heero cut in suddenly.

"How the HELL was I supposed to know the creep would follow me home!" Duo exploded. He turned to look at Heero, ready for a fight, but seeing the impassive look on Heero's face calmed him down. "He's not coming back though, I broke his nose and you scared him pretty bad."

"You have a habit of going places you have no business in."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Heero didn't speak.

Duo studied him for a moment, expecting an answer that wouldn't come. It reminded him of something, "What were you doing that day?"

Silence.

"Not when... I mean that first day in the lab. You haven't had testing since then, and what was that black thing?"

For a moment, it seemed as if Heero wouldn't answer. "Stay out of my business," he said instead.

"I heard screaming."

Heero actually looked startled for a second before his features smoothed over again, "No one screamed."

"But, I heard it…"

"No one else did."

Duo was about to argue when he realized it was true. None of the other four people in the room had reacted to it like he had and no one had talked about it since. //Did I just imagine it? No. I know I heard it.\ Duo decided to change tactics.

"What do you think about Treize?"

Heero glared at Duo before choosing his words, "I think he's a smart man."

"What?"

"He's got the right idea about us being better than normal people. He has the money, power and influence to do what he wants. I support him because our interests are the same."

"You can't possibly believe all that crap he was saying."

He stood up and towered over Duo, "You don't know me."

"I know you don't mean that." Duo said with a slight smirk.

"Hn."

Duo watched Heero walk away and the smirk became larger. _/He knows there's something else going on too./_

* * *

If Une found it odd that Duo didn't complain, like he did everyday, when she stuck the electrode on his forehead, she didn't say anything about it. Duo was cooperative right up until Une left him alone; then he ripped the electrode off his head and began to search around the small area behind the partition. He figured he had about five minutes to tear the area apart and put it all back together before Une came back to check on his progress, of which there would be none to report. In the mean time, he had no idea what he was searching for, but he was going to find it.

Four minutes and twenty seconds later he had searched everywhere and hadn't turned anything up. His search was a bust and he was out of time. He sat down in the chair with a resigned huff and picked up the electrode to replace it on his head, but that's when he saw it.

In the center of the electrode, caked in the cloudy, translucent electrode cream, was a fleck of green. Duo scraped it out quickly and replaced the electrode. Just before Une came back he realized that his fingers, where they had touched the green fleck, were stinging, while his forehead was unbothered.

They did the same song and dance that was becoming ritual. She asked about his progress and he reported none. He faked being disappointed and she comforted him. She added more 'electrode cream' and for him, the biting cold started again.

When she left, he pulled off the electrode again. There was another green fleck, larger this time, and resembling a small crystal. Duo removed it, pocketed it, replaced it with the smaller one, and left the lab to find some aspirin.

* * *

The aspirin didn't help.

Duo fell into a fitful sleep, filled with unfinished beach scenery and a truck's bright headlights, strangely cloaked men and burning green crystals, bodiless screams and a dangerous snake like man, a cold expressionless face and even colder blue eyes.

Quatre came in a few hours later. He saw Duo's tormented sleep and did what he could to remove the negative energy again. Quatre did not wake Duo, knowing that he needed all the rest he could get, so he did his best to quite Duo's dreams and let him be.

Duo slept through the rest of the day and the whole night. And he, like everyone else, woke up to screaming.

"What's going on?" Duo asked, groggily.

"It's Wufei," Quatre sounded perplexed. "He's screaming about something downstairs."

They stared at each other across the room before both getting up and rushing out the door. They got to the kitchen just on the heels of Trowa. Heero and Wufei were already there.

"What is this all about?" Trowa asked before finally seeing the sixth person on the room. Relena was sprawled on the floor, eyes open, not moving.

"Is she dead? Duo asked. Quatre was already on the floor next to Relena, checking her for any signs of life.

"No, she's alive, but barely. Someone call a doctor." Quatre was finding it hard to stand near Relena, let alone touch her. It was like she was burning but it wasn't a physical heat.

Trowa exited the kitchen calmly but quickly to get the phone. Wufei turned to Heero who was staring at Relena and Quatre dispassionately.

"What did you do to her?"

Heero turned to Wufei, "This time I find you screaming over a dead girl and it's still my fault?"

"I didn't do anything to her. She was scared to death of you, Yuy."

"Where is Une?" Duo asked, his interest was completely piqued at the argument they were having, but it wasn't the time or place for it.

Heero stepped away from the refrigerator to reveal the short note that was taped to it.

'Relena,

Went to the store to pick up a few things. Please get breakfast started with out me. Don't forget what we talked about.

- Une'

"What did they talk about?" Wufei asked.

"I think… Une said she was going to talk to Relena about her medicine."

"Relena takes medicine?" Wufei asked, putting his glaring contest with Heero on hold. "What type of medicine?"

"I don't know, she didn't say." Duo felt miserable

"How do you know about it in the first place?" Trowa asked, reentering the kitchen.

Duo frowned but didn't answer.

"Duo?" Quatre said softly after a few minutes. He had already done what he could for Relena; the rest would be up to the hospital. Sirens could be heard getting closer.

"I think… this may be my fault." Duo said sitting down on the floor.

"What do you mean, Maxwell?" Wufei growled.

The ambulance arrived and the house was thrown in to organized chaos. Paramedics rushed Relena to the hospital just as Une arrived. The boys each had to explain their story to the Une and the police. Then Une left them to go to the hospital to check on Relena. When everything calmed down, a couple of hours later, all five boys found themselves sitting silent in the common room.

"Duo…" Quatre asked again, first to break the quiet. "What happened?"

Duo told them everything.


	8. Chapter 7

Title- Dangerous Bonds (7/?)  
Warning- AU, Mild violence and shounen-ai in future parts.  
Parings- 1+2, 3+4  
Rating- R  
Summary- Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there's something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough time to save themselves? This is a crossover with the Dark Visions trilogy by L.J. Smith.  
Disclaimer- I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or the Dark Visions book series. The following story is being written without profit, no malice is intended. insert pleasant, innocent smile here

Notes: ummm /thinking or telepathy/ it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part. Opps all most forgot to add the italics

This Fic was Beta-ed by Ilyena sylph a long, long time ago, although any and all spelling and grammar mistakes are still completely my own. I've been sitting on it for a while so send any daggers my way, I probably deserve them ;;

Chapter 7

_/This really sucks./ _

Duo was sitting in silence, with his head down, waiting for someone to say something. He had told the whole story, from when he first saw the guy at the airport to seeing Relena comatose on the floor this morning; he only left out the small detail about his drawings being unrealistically good and the even more insignificant detail of Heero's gun. Actually, he completely left out any mention of Heero during his narrative.

Now he was waiting for one of them to say something, anything. Duo looked up at them; no one seemed inclined to speak. In fact, they all seemed to be thinking seriously, except Heero, who still had that same cold, emotionless look. That look was starting to piss Duo off.

Finally, tired of waiting, he snapped, "Well?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone before?" Quatre didn't sound angry, he sounded sympathetic.

"I told everyone, now," Duo said getting irritated; he didn't want sympathy.

"Before, Maxwell."

Duo turned to glare at Wufei, "I'm so sorry. Weird stuff happens to me all the time, it really didn't seem all that important."

Quatre winced, "Don't, Duo. It's not your fault. No one blames you."

"I do," Wufei said. "If he had told Une about the stalker…"

"Une was responsible for what happened to Relena." Heero watched Wufei turn around and glare at him and waited for the explosion. He was tired of Chang's attitude and he was ready to take him down a notch.

"I think Heero is right." Everyone stopped and looked at Trowa. It was the first time he had spoken since he had finished being questioned by the police. "Duo said Une told him she was going to take care of Relena."

"She was talking about the medicine, though," but he wasn't so sure about that now. Duo was wondering how much Trowa knew.

"You said she was acting strangely. The way she was when you left the lab on Monday?"

"…Yes, but—"

"Une has split personalities." Trowa said as if this was the natural conclusion to come to.

"What?" blurted Quatre.

"A week before I met Une, a strange man came to see me."

"What do you mean strange man?"

"He was old and he also wore a cloak but he didn't fit your description; for one, he had a wooden nose. He told me a lot of things that didn't make since at the time. Things he couldn't have known because they had not happened yet, things about this Institute. And he told me about a woman I would meet here. Based on what he told me and what Duo has said, Une has split personalities and one of them is probably psychotic."

"No way, this is too weird," Duo's head was swimming in confusion at the sudden turn of events. "Why didn't you say something about that guy before?"

Trowa shrugged slightly, "I hadn't seen the connection until now."

"Even if it is true, what was Relena saying that was so important that she needed to be silenced? She sounds just as crazy as Une, if not more." Wufei asked.

Quatre was frowning, he didn't doubt Trowa at all but he was wondering how he could have missed something like that in Une. "Duo," he said suddenly, "what about that crystal you found," Quatre asked suddenly. "Do you still have it?"

"Yeah, why?"

"May I see it?"

Duo got up and left the room to get the crystal. He returned with a folded napkin, which he handed to Quatre with a distinct look that said he was glad to be rid of it.

Quatre unfolded the napkin and looked at the small fleck of green, "You found this on the electrode?"

"Yep," Duo said from his seat still eyeing the small shard as if he expected it to attack them.

"And this is what was causing the headaches?"

"As far as I can tell. What else could it have been?"

Quatre touched it slightly with the edge of his index finger and pulled back his hand almost immediately. "It stings."

"Let me see that," Wufei asked. The napkin was passed to him and after a few seconds of studying he said, "I've seen something like this before. It looks like a focus crystal. People channel energy through them, it's supposed to bring power, but the ones I've seen are much larger than this." He paused, looking thoughtful, "I always thought it was a silly superstition."

"Why does this hurt instead of focusing power?" Trowa asked no one in particular.

Quatre looked at Duo and thought back to when he had first helped him with the headaches. He had pulled the crystal's negative energy out of Duo and into himself because it was easier to heal that sort of thing from within himself than in others. He knew, when transferring energy, it wasn't unusual for feelings and emotions to come with it and, sometimes, whole thoughts as well. That was how he knew about Duo's drawings and how much they worried him. The small crystal had brought great power, but if Duo hadn't revealed that piece of information the reason was strictly personal and it wasn't Quatre's place to reveal it either.

Quatre sighed loudly, "I wonder if Mr. Treize knows what Une is doing here."

"I'll bet everything I own that he's behind the whole thing. Those two old men knew there was something going on here and so did Relena. She kept saying she didn't want 'it' to happen again. Something bad has happened before and you don't get the kind of cash he's been throwing around without doing some dirty dealings. Hell, I bet he even supplied her with those things," Duo said pointing at the crystal. "That's probably what he was doing with that briefcase."

"What briefcase?" Wufei asked.

"The briefcase he took with him to when he went back to the lab on Monday."

"Treize was already in the lab when we got there on Monday. How do you know what he had with him?"

"No, not when he was already down there, when he went back. I saw him go back down there while I was lying on the couch."

"He never came back into the lab," Wufei said sternly.

"That's bullshit! I saw him. I may have had a headache but I know that I saw. You must have past him on the away out of the lab, Quatre. You came out right after he went in. There's no way you didn't see him."

Quatre shook his head, "He didn't come back into the lab." Wufei was staring at Duo like he was crazy.

Duo stood up and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Quatre asked.

"I'm going to look at that hallway. If he didn't go into the lab he went somewhere else because I didn't hallucinate him." Duo stormed out of the room and they could hear him run down the stairs.

Heero stood up and followed him without preamble.

"Well?" Quatre asked after a moment.

Trowa shrugged and left. Quatre and Wufei followed close behind.

Duo was in the hall looking for cracks in the wall with his hands.

"It won't be on that wall." Heero said quietly from behind him.

"What?" Duo said stopping momentarily to look at him.

"That wall is smooth, aside from the door to the basement. You can the see whole thing from the inside of the lab; the same thing is true for the back wall."

"How would you know, you've only been down there once." Duo said looking at Heero suspiciously. /Why is he trying to help?/

"I've been down there more than once, just not when you've noticed."

Duo was going to question him, but the others had just come around the edge of the hall. He sighed and moved around Heero to check the other wall.

He founds something close to the end of the hallway, a long thin crack in the wall from the ceiling to the floor. It wasn't wide enough to hide a hinge but…

Just to the right there was a small indentation in the wall. When he pushed it gave way, when he pushed harder it slid up and revealed a small keypad. "It's a lock," Duo said. "I knew there was something else in this hall." But he stepped back and leaned on the opposite wall. Even if he knew it was there, he still couldn't open it without the code or his kit.

Wufei stepped into the hall to get a closer look at the keypad. "I think I can open this."

Just as he reached for it, the front door unlocked.

"Kitchen!" Quatre said pulling Trowa with him into the room. Heero followed them.

Wufei slammed his fist into the wall to make the panel close just as the front door opened. Duo stepped out of the hall and saw Treize pull the two Rottweilers in behind him.

"Mr. Treize?" Duo said as Wufei stepped behind him. Duo prayed silently that Wufei wouldn't say anything to give them away.

"Mr. Maxwell. Mr. Chang. Where are your housemates?"

"Quatre took them into the kitchen to make sandwiches."

"Even Mr. Yuy?" Treize said arching a forked eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, you know how persuasive Quatre is." Duo hoped he bought this story.

"I see. And the two of you?"

Duo smiled, "I was taking Wufei down to the lab with me to look for my sketchbook." He leaned in like he was letting Treize in on a great secret, "I didn't think it would be good if Wufei and Heero killed each other over the sandwich spread."

Treize nodded, "I'll have to ask you to wait to do that." Then he pitched his voice louder, "Mr. Winner, Mr. Barton, Mr. Yuy, please join us."

"They filed out of the kitchen and approached Mr. Treize, being careful to stay clear of the dogs.

Treize paused dramatically before speaking, "My Lady Une had informed me of what happened to Miss Relena. She will be staying at the hospital to make sure Miss Relena is taken care of, which will leave this household without guidance.

"Though I am quite sure all of you are perfectly capable of taking care of your selves, I feel it would be unwise to leave you completely unprotected. I would stay in her stead but I have a previous engagement to keep. Instead, I will be leaving Alex and Mueller here." The two dogs barked viciously. "I understand it is still early, but today is a special circumstance, as I'm sure you all understand. I am advising you to retire to your rooms for the evening. I also suggest you keep the doors to your rooms shut. Should Alex and Mueller find their ways up stairs, you will be… better protected behind your doors. Are there any other concerns?"

"Yeah," Duo said looking at the dogs, "can we get our sandwiches first?"

Quatre and Duo were sitting in their room with Wufei and Trowa thinking about their options. They had spent an hour or so trying get around Treize and his dogs under their guise of making dinner, with no success. Treize had been too vigilant to allow any opportunity to make it into the hall to take better look at the lock on the secret door. Once it had started to get dark, the older man had insisted they go upstairs for the night, and that was the end of their chances. Now they were back at square one.

"We need to get behind that door." Wufei was still irritated about nearly getting caught by Treize several times.

"But the dogs…" Quatre said.

"I think can handle the dogs, but not right now. They're still too anxious. I'll need to wait until they're tired." Trowa said staring at the door.

"Ok. If Trowa can stop the dogs from tearing us to shreds and Wufei can open the door, then we can get in there to look around." Duo said. He waited for everyone to agree before standing up and heading to the door. "I just need to do one thing first."

"Where are you going?" Wufei asked.

"To talk to Heero."

"Wha—"

"Wufei," Duo smiling at the slight indignation on his face. "I know you hate his guts, but it's only going to get worse if we keep purposely leaving him out of things. We're all in this mess now. I… We can at least ask him if he wants to help. Besides, I know he's gonna say no." And he slipped out of the door and into the dark hall.

He slid to Heero's door soundlessly and listened for the dogs before knocking quietly.

Heero's voice answered, "Go away, Duo."

Duo smiled, "How did you know?"

"You're the only person stupid enough to bother me."

"Open the door Heero, we need to talk."

"Iie."

"What?"

"I said no. Go away."

"We need your help Heero… I need your help."

No answer.

"We're going downstairs to check out that secret room in a few hours. It will be late, so I don't expect anything to happen, but can you at least keep an eye out? Make sure no one's coming?"

"No." Heero said with finality.

"Fine," Duo said turning back down the hall to the room with the others. "Ok," he said to them.

They all looked up sharply, having not heard him reenter.

"Whenever you're ready."

They decided to go for it at a quarter past three. Trowa left the room first followed by Wufei, Quatre and Duo. Trowa motioned for them to stop on the landing as he continued down.

The two attack dogs growled menacingly as he reached the floor but didn't jump on him. As he got closer to them the growling diminished until it stopped completely and the dogs sat back on their hind legs peacefully.

Trowa waved, and the others walked by quickly and as quietly as possible and made their way to the hall.

Wufei fumbled in the dark for a moment until he found the panel on the wall. He accessed the keypad behind the panel and placed his whole hand on it. After twenty seconds there was an audible click and a doorway slid open from the crack in the wall revealing a dimly lit, thin stairwell.

Duo and Quatre looked down in the darkness and wondered if the small staircase would hold their weight. With a shrug, Duo went ahead.

"Are you coming down to look, too?" Quatre whispered to Wufei before he followed Duo.

Wufei shook his head, "This was harder to open than I originally thought. I might not be able to open it from the other side."

Quatre nodded, it wouldn't do to get locked down in a hidden basement. He slowly walked down the stairs, once he reached the bottom he could see there was a narrow hallway that opened up into a small office area. Duo was already shuffling though some papers on the desk.

"This stuff is just normal papers: bills, notes, some documents from our school," he was already rearranging the stack.

Quatre walked to a file cabinet beside the desk and opened it. It was filled with the same kind of papers: more notes, more bills, more documents signed by… "Khrushrenada?"

"Hm?"

"These are signed by someone named Khrushrenada."

Duo pulled a couple of sheets out of a file folder and flipped them, "These say Khrushrenada too." He turned back to the desk and looked through those papers again, "Khrushrenada. Khrushrenada. Khrushrenada, Treize… Treize is his first name?" Duo was thinking back to all the times Une had called him Mr. Treize. "Why? And this place is even called The Treize Institute. Why is he using his first name?"

There was a rattling noise and Quatre sighed, "This one is locked."

Duo looked at the cabinet Quatre was talking about and saw the lock; it needed a key. Duo turned back to the desk and started riffling through the drawers.

"What are you doing?"

Duo pulled out two paperclips with a cheeky grin, "Picking a lock."

He bent the two clips properly and went to work on the lock, after a few seconds the drawer slid open. Duo pulled out a thick file and handed it to Quatre, he flipped through the remaining things.

"What's Operation Zodiac?" Quatre asked reading over one of the documents.

"There's a letter in here from the NSA regarding the OZ psychic strike team. This is too crazy."

"The NSA? The government is involved in this? …This is a document on the screening process for applicants." Quatre was already reading something else.

"No," Duo said shaking his head. "The NSA turned him down. I think that's why he changed his name."

"What do you mean?"

"All the NSA documents are signed by Khrushrenada but they rejected him. Well, he couldn't very well go around doing the same thing even after the NSA said no, so he changed his name." Duo said turning to Quatre.

"Duo, that doesn't make sense. They would have had his first name on record and probably everything else about him."

Duo made a face, "Well, I thought it made sense." Quatre sighed and they started to look through the files again. "Oh, Hey! Treize ran outta cash. There are some letters in here to people and other corporations asking for funding. Duke Dermail, Marshal Noventa, General Tsberov," he said naming some names off of the letters, "have you ever head of these people?"

"Yes," Quatre said surprised, "Well, only Noventa. The girl I've been helping in the lab, her name is Silvia Noventa."

"That can't be a coincidence."

"No, I don't think it is." Quatre said looking at something else. "These are files on Milliardo 'Zechs' Peacecraft, Dorothy 'Cat' Catalonia, Hilde 'Scraps' Scherbeiker…"

"No, never heard of th— Oh wait. Here, there are files on those people. Who are they?"

"They're the people from OZ. And there are files just like theirs for us under the heading Operation Meteor."

"Whoa… Hey, this says OZ was terminated."

"Terminated?" Quatre said looking alarmed, "The project or the people?"

Heero was brooding. He knew they were down there snooping around in Treize's secret lab. He knew it was down there of course, he even knew most of what they would find. /Treize has been treating me as a confidant, telling me things the others don't know in order to gain my… gain my what? Allegiance? Assistance?/ Heero snorted/He's crazy if he thinks I'm after anything but the money. He's probably crazy already./

He knew that whatever Treize was planning, he was expecting Heero's cooperation. He didn't know what Treize wanted but it probably had nothing to do with people sneaking around in his private office, which was why Heero was brooding. He didn't understand why he had helped that braided idiot find the entrance. Worst still, he was angry that he had even thought about helping him at all. /I should have stopped him. Grabbed that stupid rope and—

A car door slammed.

Heero stood up, walked to his balcony and looked down. A red sports car was parked on the access road at the bottom of the hill and someone was walking up towards the house… Treize.

Heero went back inside and looked at the door to his room/There is no way to get down there and warn them before Treize gets in the house. Unless…/

"I won't," Heero said out loud.

"This says OZ was terminated," Duo said pulling out a folder with a large red stamp on it.

"Terminated? The project or the people?"

Duo opened his mouth to answer but a voice exploded in his mind that was not his own.

_/Treize is coming in through the back door; you're going to get caught./ _

Quatre gasped.

"He…Heero?" Duo was so shocked he froze in place.

"He's a telepath." Quatre said, stunned.

If Duo didn't know better he would have said Heero rolled his eyes at that comment; the thought was too amusing to be true. _/You can act surprised about it later. You're going to get caught. MOVE./_

That thought threw Duo into action. "Heero, tell Wufei to lock us down here and go hide," he said as he grabbed the files and tried to quickly arrange them back in the cabinet neatly.

_/I can hear you, Duo. The door is shut and I'm down in the lab_./ Wufei's voice answered him mentally.

Duo was pushing Quatre into a hiding space behind the desk, "Trowa, let the dogs go and get upstairs."

Trowa didn't answer but Duo could still feel his acknowledgement.

Duo was looking for another place to hide when he heard the door at the top of the stairs slid open. Out of time, he threw himself in the corner. He was hidden from the narrow hall but as soon as Treize stepped out of the hall, he would be in plain sight. Duo wasn't really panicking; it was more like grim resolution. He was done for.

Treize was at the bottom of the stairs now, in three more steps he would be out of the hall. Instead, a loud commotion broke out above them with sounds of barking, thumping and a noisy crash.

_/What was that?/_ It was Quatre's voice in his head. Duo could hear him clearly as if he had spoken the words but the sound wasn't coming from his ears.

_/I riled Alex and Mueller./_ Trowa's mental voice answered calmly.

Treize's footsteps retreated up the stairs and the door slid shut behind him.

Duo slumped in relief.

_/He took the dogs out to the back_./ Heero's mental voice said a minute later.

"Wufei, come get us out of here before he comes back!"

They were silently sitting in the pitch-dark common room. Even though no one was speaking they could tell where everyone was sitting without the benefit of sight. It was like they were extensions of each other, invisibly connected.

Duo saw them as being linked together with hair thin threads like they were caught helplessly in a large spider's web; it wasn't a very appealing picture.

"Please stop doing that." Quatre sounded slightly strained.

"Sorry…" Duo mumbled, " I didn't mean too." _/It's like reading minds and having your mind read at the same time. I don't…/_ Duo stopped himself from finishing that thought he had no idea if he was projecting it to everyone else.

_/I don't like this./_ Trowa finished for him. He didn't like the idea of people being able to hear his private thoughts.

Wufei growled, "No one likes it. Yuy, get in here."

Heero had been lurking around just outside of the door to the room ever since Treize's car had sped off. Heero hadn't come in to sit with the rest of them because he could tell he wasn't particularly wanted at that moment. Still, he knew someone would call him in eventually, it just happened to be Chang. He walked the room and sat down between Trowa and Duo.

"No one likes this, Yuy. Turn it off." Wufei said harshly.

"Fine," Heero said coldly, "Just tell me how."


	9. Chapter 8

Title- Dangerous Bonds (8/?)  
Warning- AU, Mild violence and shounen-ai in future parts.  
Parings- 1+2, 3+4  
Rating- R  
Summary- Duo, possessing psychic powers, is invited to a special institute for gifted students. Everything seems normal enough but there's something going on behind the scenes. What does it have to do with Duo and his new friends and will they find out in enough time to save themselves? This is a crossover with the Dark Visions trilogy by L.J. Smith.  
Disclaimer- I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or the Dark Visions book series. The following story is being written without profit, no malice is intended. *insert pleasant, innocent smile here*  
Notes: ummm _/thinking or telepathy\ _it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part.

This Fic was Beta-ed by Ilyena_sylph a long, long, long time ago, but I have tweaked it since then so definitely all spelling and grammar issues are completely my fault.

Chapter 8

"No one likes this Yuy, turn it off."

"Fine, just tell me how."

Shock reverberated through the room, through the link connecting them as the words continued to echo silently.

"You don't know how to stop this?" Quatre asked finally.

Heero turned to glare at Quatre, "If I did I would have already. I like this less than any of you could possibly know." Heero's voice was dripping with contempt.

"Then why did you do it in the first place?" Duo asked softly, even though he knew everyone heard the question.

_/Shut up.\_ The thought had come so sharply and so directly that it made Duo's head snap back like he had been punched. Heero had not even bothered to turn and glare at Duo; the two words had carried all the meaning he had intended. Duo knew, without a doubt, that the thought had been meant only for him and he was the only one who heard it, just as Heero wanted.

"You've done this before," Duo said ignoring the warning, "How did you stop it then?" Heero did turn to glare this time but Duo didn't back down. Through the connection he could feel everyone rallying behind him and now they were all expecting an answer from Heero. Duo smirked, _/I told you. You don't scare me,\_ he tried to send just for Heero.

Heero looked away first; "It's never been this many people at once, and I've never stop it; it usually ends. It blinks out of existence when someone passes out or-" he just stopped. The whole line of thought was cut off ruthlessly.

Wufei's anger suddenly skyrocketed, he and Heero glared at each other for several seconds but neither said or thought anything further.

Duo's attention shifted to Wufei as he wondered what was going on between the two of them; he didn't realize his thoughts had been reaching out. Wufei's response was a mental rebuff, akin to a quick slap to his hand, Duo resisted the urge to rub the nonexistent sting away. He pulled back and turned his attention to Heero, this time consciously trying the same thing. Heero's reaction was stronger than a slap.

Heero could feel Duo trying to probe him and he wasn't amused. He doubted Duo even knew what he was doing or how to do it properly. But though the attempt was laughable it was still annoying that he was even trying. Heero put a barrier around himself, a shield from the rest of them as solid as a wall. It felt cold and unbreakable like a promise that nasty things would happen to anyone that tried to get closer to him.

And with that last residual thought, Heero was cut off. Their link to him had been disengaged; even though they could still feel he was connected to them, the flow of thoughts and emotions had stopped. It felt as if an arm had gone permanently numb.

"How did you do that?" Wufei asked astonished.

Heero was silent again.

Duo tried to do the same, since Heero had pulled that stunt right in Duo's figurative face. He tried to build a wall around himself to keep out everyone's thoughts and keep his in. Bit by bit they could feel Duo pull away as well, though his barriers weren't as strong as Heero's. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei tried to copy Duo's example and they all closed themselves off from each other. Still it was only a temporary solution.

Trowa was the first to break the silence in the room, "What are we going to do about this?"

Heero stood up and walked to the door, "It's never lasted this long before. Just go to sleep, it will be gone by morning."

"But you're not sure about that." Wufei stated bluntly.

Heero left without answering.

* * *

Duo was sitting on the beach again, but this time something was different.

"How did you get in my dream?"

Duo looked behind him but it wasn't Wufei that caught his eye, his focus was trained on what lay behind the other boy: Everything. For the first time Duo could see the whole picture. The gray sky with the dark clouds hanging just above the horizon, the biting cold in the air that made him want to pull a jacket around himself, the small one story house on top of the modest grass hill, the old worn down fence posts that lined the near side of the simple road that ran along the beach; it was all breathtaking in a desolate, cold sort of way.

"Maxwell."

Duo quickly looked back at Wufei; he had nearly forgotten there was another person there, four others in fact. "I'm in your dream?"

Wufei's eyes strayed to his left then narrowed and Duo knew that he was looking at Heero. Not because of the look in his eyes, although that was a dead give away, it was because of the connection they shared. Duo could also feel that Trowa and Quatre were close together somewhere to his right. The feeling was oddly comforting.

"But… I've had this dream before… but…" he paused, unable to explain how the landscape had been previously.

"But the blackness blocked everything."

"Yes," Duo said turning his head to look at Trowa, suddenly he understood. "We've all had this dream before," he said slowly, still not sure how he knew these things without a doubt. Duo stood and started to walk past Wufei up the beach.

"Where are you going?"

Duo paused but did not turn around, "I've been here every night since coming to the Institute but this is the first time I've gotten the whole picture. Now it seems pretty obvious this isn't just some dream. Aren't you even a little curious about what's going on here? There's a light on in that house so I'm going to check it out." He started moving again and they all followed him.

They walked, but never got any closer.

* * *

Heero was the first to wake up. The light coming from his window told him it was well after dawn and a quick look at his clock confirmed his thoughts; he overslept. Heero slid out of bed and headed to his private bathroom. He splashed some water on his face as he stared at himself in the mirror, wondering what the hell he had been thinking the night before. He knew everyone was still sleeping peacefully; he could still feel them. Heero had known, even as he had said otherwise the night before, that the connection would still be there in the morning. In fact, he suspected that there was no way to reverse what he had started, that was unacceptable. He growled to himself, _/Sitting around feeling sorry for myself is not acceptable either.\_ With a frown, Heero left the bathroom to find something to wear.

Downstairs he knew the dogs would be gone, Treize took them when he left the night before, however he did not expect to find Une happily putting away groceries in the kitchen. He paused in the doorway unsure of what to do for a moment.

"Oh," Une said when she turned and saw him, "Good morning, Heero."

"Hn," he acknowledged as he finally moved into the kitchen to get a glass of apple juice.

"How was your night?" she asked happily.

"How's Relena?" he countered.

"Oh, she's doing just fine," Une said, completely oblivious to Heero's insinuation. "The doctors don't know exactly what happened to her but they're confident she'll make a full recovery. Even Mr. Pargen insisted that I leave the hospital immediately and return here. That Mr. Pargen, he's such a nice man."

Heero stared, "Une."

She smiled serenely, "Yes, Heero?"

He had wanted to ask her whom she thought she was fooling with her act, but instead he said, "I want to start learning more about my power and how I can use it to help you." He watched with clinical detachment as her smile grew wider and her eyes lightened.

"Heero, that's wonderful. Mr. Treize will be so pleased. I'll get you some books so you can start researching."

"It would be easier if I had access to your whole library, then I can see what I'll be dealing with as well."

She seemed to consider him for too long and he was starting to think that she would refuse. "Well… Normally I would disagree but I'm confident that Mr. Treize would approve of your request. You know where to find it, of course?"

He nodded and left the kitchen for the French doors. He entered Une's meticulously neat room and headed straight to the bookshelves in the corner. He had a lot of material to read through and not enough time to do it, but he was sure that Une would not disturb him and that she would keep the others from bothering him as well. Heero picked out a book and started reading.

* * *

_/What is that horrible noise?\_

"Hmm… Wufei's alarm clock is going off."

"Mmm Quat… I'll give you five dollars if you throw it outta the window." Duo mumbled into his pillow, still half asleep.

Quatre snickered as the door from the bathroom burst open. The 'horrible noise,' which had previously been muffled by the shut door, was now blaring but it still could not complete with Wufei's angry voice, "Did you just threaten Nataku?"

Duo rolled over and cracked an eye open. "Of course not, Wu-man," he mumbled again, rolling back over to try to get some more sleep with a pillow over his head.

Wufei growled and his voice gained volume, "Maxwell! My name is Wufei and -"

_/I'll give anyone another five if they throw Wuffie out too.\_

Wufei's tirade stopped mid-word and Quatre outright laughed which caused Wufei to stutter indignantly for a second. _/You forgot I can hear you, Maxwell.\\_ Wufei's inner voice growled loud and clear in Duo's head.

Duo groaned, he entertained the idea of smacking himself in the head but decided against it, because it might serve as a cue for Wufei to start beating him senseless. Duo rolled over again and sat up, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. He looked at Wufei and smiled, "As a matter of fact, I did forget you could hear my thoughts… But, since you're being such a good sport about this, I'll give you twenty if you jump." Then Duo threw his pillow at Wufei and dashed past out into the hallway before Wufei could recover.

"What's so funny?" Wufei said tossing the pillow at the blond who was trying to stop laughing.

Quatre caught it and threw it back on Duo's bed, "Nothing at all." He said angelically.

"What the hell is this?" Duo shouted from the other room.

Wufei turned around ready to kill Duo and Quatre followed to stop the ensuing bloodshed.

They found Duo holding the alarm clock in question. A strange green metal contraption fixed on top of a clock base that was waving around green and yellow flags shouting catchphrases like 'Time to get up!' 'Sleeping late is weak!' 'Don't waste the day!' 'Justice must be served!'

"Eh," Duo said just as they entered the room, "What a strange little robot guy."

Quatre watched Wufei's eye twitch with concern, "Uh, Duo. You might want to put that down."

"That, is not a robot. That is Warrior Goddess Nataku. Put her down or I will be forced to kill you in a painful manor." As he charged over to stand between the beds to block Duo's escape.

Duo carefully sat the clock back on the stand. He put his hands up in a pacifying gesture, "Geeze, don't get so worked up. I was only kidding."

Wufei picked up another pillow and took a threatening step forward. Duo tucked and rolled over the bed and out of the door just as Trowa was reentering the room, managing to slide around him. Wufei dropped the pillow and picked up his clock to inspect it for damage, turning it off as well.

_/Thank God!\_ Duo's thought floated through the web.

_/I know where you are, Duo,\_ Wufei thought.

_/What a coincidence, I know where I am too.\_

Wufei just shook his head.

"Well, no harm done," Quatre ventured.

Wufei snorted in amusement, and headed for the door.

"Hey," Trowa leaned in to grab another pillow off of the bed and handed it to Wufei. "Take this; you'll have more time to make the point."

Wufei nodded and raced out of the room with the pillow in hand.

_/Heads up, Duo,\_ Quatre warned.

_/Crap.\_

Quatre and Trowa burst out laughing.

* * *

Sometime later in the day, Heero looked up from the essay he was reading to watch Duo slip into the room. "Go away. I'm busy."

"Oh yeah? Whatcha doin'?"

Heero turned his attention back to the book he held, knowing that Duo wouldn't take the hint. Duo continued trying catch his attention and Heero had to wonder how it was possible for Duo to make so much noise just standing there and still be able to creep into his room in the middle of the night near soundlessly.

"Hey!" Duo finally said when it became apparent that Heero was going to continue to ignore him. "You've been in here all day, what have you been doing?"

_/I'm looking for a way to reverse this and you're disturbing me. Go away.\_ Although the tone wasn't as sharp as it had been before, Duo knew that this was meant only for him to hear.

"Let me help," Duo insisted.

"You don't know what to look for and you're too distracting. I'm not going to tell you again."

"God Damn it, Heero! This isn't just your problem anymore, now you've included all of us! You may be used to doing everything on your own but you can't do that now so quit being such a selfish bastard!"

Heero sat passive as Duo yelled at him, waiting until he finished, then Heero stood and walked past Duo to the doors small room, opening one. As Duo turned to watch him Heero grabbed his arm.

Duo flailed as he was roughly yanked backwards, his feet tangling in Heero's out stretched leg. The next thing he knew he was sitting in the middle of the hall starring up at a smirking Heero. He was going to say something but the French doors closed, cutting him off.

Wufei watched as Duo landed in a sprawl and got the door slammed in his face; he was unsuccessfully suppressing a smirk.

Duo picked himself up and mock-glared at the amused expression. "You could have helped me up or something."

"I told you not to go in there; it's none of your business what he is doing."

Duo huffed elaborately, "Both of you… Look, this is everyone's business 'cuz now it's everyone's problem. I mean, if we can help him figure out what's happening with this, then we can fix it and move on, ya know. I would have figured that you would be jumping at any opportunity to end this since you seem to be having the biggest problem with it."

The amusement wiped from Wufei's face leaving a scowl. He stepped up to Duo and whispered fiercely, "My problem is with Yuy. But I still know that I do not have the knowledge or ability to fix this. This is his responsibly, his gift, and he understands it in a way that I could never. You are intervening where you are not wanted and you are not helping-"

Wufei looked like he would have continued but just then Une came out of the kitchen wiping her hands with a dishtowel. "What's going on out here?" she asked taking in the scene before her.

Startled Duo spun around and stared at her, "Umm..."

Wufei just turned around and stalked up the steps without another word.

"He's still mad about this morning," Duo recovered, "I didn't know he took that alarm clock so seriously."

"Have you apologized to him?"

Duo smiled, "Well, probably not sincerely enough for his liking. I'll just go do that now. Thanks Une." He turned and followed Wufei up the stairs.

* * *

Just as he reached the end of the essay there was a light knock at the door and then a brief pause before Une pushed the door open and stuck her head inside.

"Une," Heero acknowledged.

"I sorry to disturb you but you've been in here all day. Would you like something to eat or -"

"No."

"I'm afraid I have to insist; at least take a glass of water. Dinner will be in a couple of hours I'll understand if you wish to wait to eat until then."

"Fine. Just give me a minute to put everything back."

"OK. One minute, Heero," she closed the door quietly.

Heero looked down at the book in his hands once more, rereading the final passage he had been looking at, unwilling to accept it as a final answer.

* * *

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* * *

Author's Note: I'm sorry, so sorry this took so long. I keep trying to make promises to post more frequently and breaking them, so no promise to get the next one sooner. I will try, I will Try. I do appreciate all the comments even the criticism help put my butt in gear. Like I've said, I'm following the story pretty closely but it does change just not very much until after story stuff which at the rate I am posting I will most likely never get to. I will continue to do this until I get to the end so I will never, NEVER drop this story, even if it takes years to get back I will come back.


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